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I 


THE       GOSPEL 


ACCORDING    TO 


ST.    MARK. 


BY  THE  VERY  REV. 

G.    A.   XHADWICK,    D.D., 

Dean  of  Aj-magh, 

AUTHOR   OF    "CHRIST    BEARING   WITNESS   TO    HIMSELF,"    "  AS    HE   THAT 
SEWKTH,"   ETC. 


1100 


NEW   YORK: 

A.    C.    ARMSTRONG    AND    SON, 
714,  BROADWAY. 


CONTENTS. 


•Chap.  I.  The  Beginning  of  the  Gospel,  i.— At  the  Jordan,  6. 
—The  Temptation,  13.— The  Early  Preaching 
and  the  First  Disciples,  17. — Teaching  with 
Authority,  20.— Miracles  24. — The  Demoniac, 
28. — A  Group  of  Miracles,  34. — Jesus  in  Soli- 
tude, 38. — The  Leper,  42 i 

„  II.  The  Sick  of  the  Palsy,  47.— The  Son  of  Man,  52.— 
The  Call  and  Feast  of  Levi,  56.— The  Contro- 
versy concerning  Fasting,  61. — The  Sabbath,  66       47 

„  III.  The  Withered  Hand,  7 1  .—The  Choice  of  the  Twelve, 
75. — Characteristics  of  the  Twelve,  80. — The 
Apostle  Judas,  88.— Christ  and  Beelzebub,  91. 
— "  Eternal  Sin,"  95.— The  Friends  of  Jesus,  99.       71 

IV.  The  Parables,  105. — The  Sower,  no. — Lamp  and 
Stand,  118. — The  Seed  growing  secretly,  121. — 
The  Mustard  Seed,  126. — Four  Miracles,  129. — 
The  Two  Storms,  133 105 

V.  The    Demoniac     of     Gadara,     141.— The    Men    of 

Gadara,  14S.— With  Jairus,  151         .         .         .141 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 


Chap.  VI.  Rejected  in  His  Own  Country,  162. — The  Mission 
ot  the  Twelve,  167. — Herod,  170. — Bread  in 
the  Desert,  176. — Unwashen  Hands,  184         .     162 

VII.  Things  which  Defile,  190. — The  Children  and  the 

Dogs,  195. — The  Deaf-and-Dumb  Man,  200     .     190 

VIII.  The  Four  Thousand,  205. — The  Leaven  ot  the 
Pharisees,  20S. — Men  as  Trees,  213. — The 
Confession  and  the  Warning,  216. — The  Re- 
buke of  Peter,  221    205 

„  IX.  The  Transfiguration,  228. — The  Descent  from  the 
Mount,  235. — The  Demoniac  Boy,  238. — Jesus 
and  the  Disciples,  247.— Offences,  254     .         .     228 

„  X.  Divorce,  263. — Christ  and  Little  Children,  268. — 

The  Rich   Inquirer,  274. — Who  then   can  be 

Saved?  281. —  Christ's  Cup  and  Baptism,  287. 

/  — The   Law  of  Greatness,   292. — Bartimaeus, 

295 263 

„  XI.  The  Triumphant  Entry,  299. — The  Barren  Fig- 
tree,  303. — The  Second  Cleansing  of  the 
Temple,  307. — The  Baptism  of  John,  whence 
was  it?  310       .......     299 

„  XII.  The  Husbandmen,  318.— The  Tribute  Money,  325. 
— Christ  and  the  Sadducees,  330. — The  Dis- 
cerning Scribe,  337. — David's  Lord,  341. — 
The  Widow's  Mite,  343    .         .         .         .  318 


CONTENTS. 


MARK. 


PAGE 


Chap.  XIII.  Things  Perishing  and  Things  Stable,  346.— The 

Impending  Judgment,  351         .         .         •         •     34° 

„  XIV.  The  Cruse  of  Ointment,  359.— The  Traitor,  364 
—The  Sop,  370.— Eread  and  Wine,  374-— 
The  Warning,  383.— In  the  Garden,  3S9.— 
The  Agony,  393.— The  Arrest,  401.— Before 
Caiaphas,  406.— The  Fan  of  Peter,  413    .         .     359 

„       XV.  Pilate,   418.— Christ  Crucified,    424.— The    Death 

of  Jesus,  431 41S 

„      XVI.  Christ  Risen,  437.— The  Ascension,  442  .         .    437 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE  BEGINNING   OF   THE    GOSPEL. 

"The  beginning  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God. 
Even  as  it  is  written  in  Isaiah  the  prophet,  Behold,  I  send  My  mes- 
senger before  Thy  face,  who  shall  prepare  Thy  way ;  The  voice  of  one 
crying  in  the  wilderness.  Make  ye  ready  the  way  of  the  Lord,  Make 
His  paths  straiglit ;  John  came,  who  baptized  in  the  wilderness  and 
preached  the  baptism  of  repentance  unto  remission  of  sins.  And  there 
went  out  unto  him  all  the  country  of  Judsea,  and  all  they  of  Jerusalem  ; 
and  they  were  baptized  of  him  in  the  river  Jordan,  confessing  their  sins. 
And  John  was  clotlied  with  camel's  hair,  and  had  a  leathern  girdle  about 
his  loins,  and  did  eat  locusts  and  wild  honey." — Mark  i.  i-6  (R.V. ). 

THE  opening  of  St.  Mark's  Gospel  is  energetic  and 
full  of  character.  St.  Matthew  traces  for  Jews 
the  pedigree  of  their  Messiah  ;  St.  Luke's  worldwide 
sympathies  linger  with  the  maiden  who  bore  Jesus,  and 
the  village  of  His  boyhood  ;  and  St.  John's  theology 
proclaims  the  Divine  origin  of  the  Eternal  Lord.  But 
St.  Mark  trusts  the  public  acts  of  the  Mighty  Worker 
to  do  for  the  reader  what  they  did  for  those  who  first 
"  beheld  His  glory."  How  He  came  to  earth  can  safely 
be  left  untold  :  what  He  was  will  appear  by  what  He 
wrought.  It  is  enough  to  record,  with  matchless  vivid- 
ness, the  toils,  the  energy,  the  love  and  wrath,  the 
defeat  and  triumph  of  the  brief  career  which  changed 
the  world.  It  will  prove  itself  to  be  the  career  of  "  the 
Son  of  God." 

In  so  deciding,  he  followed  the  example  of  the 
Apostolic  teaching.     The  first  vacant  place  among  the 

I 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 


Twelve  was  filled  by  an  eye-witness,  competent  to  tell 
what  Jesus  did  "  from  the  baptism  of  John  to  the  day 
when  He  was  received  up,"  the  very  space  covered  by 
this  Gospel.  That  "  Gospel  of  peace,"  which  Cornelius 
heard  from  St.  Peter  (and  hearing,  received  th.e  Holy 
Ghost)  was  the  same  story  of  Jesus  "  after  the  baptism 
which  John  preached."  And  this  is  throughout  the 
substance  of  the  primitive  teaching.  The  Apostles  act 
as  men  who  believe  that  everything  necessary  to  salva- 
tion is  (implicit  or  explicit)  in  the  history  of  those  few 
crowded  years.     Therefore  this  is  "the  gospel." 

Men  there  are  who  judge  otherwise,  and  whose  gospel 
is  not  the  story  of  salvation  wrought,  but  the  plan  of 
salvation  applied,  how  the  Atonement  avails  for  us, 
how  men  are  converted,  and  what  privileges  they 
then  receive.  But  in  truth  men  are  not  converted 
by  preaching  conversion,  any  more  than  citizens  are 
made  loyal  by  demanding  loyalty.  Show  men  their 
prince,  and  convince  them  that  he  is  gracious  and  truly 
royal,  and  they  will  die  for  him.  Show  them  the  Prince 
of  Life,  and  He,  being  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men 
unto  Him ;  and  thus  the  truest  gospel  is  that  which 
declares  Christ  and  Him  crucified.  As  all  science 
springs  from  the  phenomena  of  the  external  world,  so 
do  theology  and  religion  spring  from  the  life  of  Him 
who  was  too  adorable  to  be  mortal,  and  too  loving  to 
be  disobeyed. 

Therefore  St.  Paul  declares  that  the  gospel  which  he 
preached  to  the  Corinthians  and  by  which  they  were 
saved,  was,  that  Christ  died  for  our  sins  and  was 
buried  and  rose  again,  and  was  seen  of  sufficient 
witnesses  (r   Cor.  xv.    i-8). 

And  therefore  St.  Mark  is  contented  with  a  very  brief 
record   of  those  wondrous  years  ;  a  tew  facts,   chosen 


Mark  i.  1-6.]     THE  BEGINNING   OF   THE    GOSPEL.  3 

with  a  keen  sense  of  the  intense  energy  and  burning 
force  which  they  reveal,  are  what  he  is  inspired  to  call 
the  gospel. 

He  presently  uses  the  word  in  a  somewhat  larger 
sense,  telling  how  Jesus  Himself,  before  the  story  of 
His  life  could  possibly  be  unfolded,  preached  as  "  the 
gospel  of  God "  that  "  the  time  is  fulfilled,  and  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand/'  and  added  (what  St. 
Mark  only  has  preserved  for  us),  "  Repent,  and  believe 
in  the  gospel"  (i.  14-15).  So  too  it  is  part  of  St. 
Paul's  "  gospel  "  that  God  shall  judge  the  secrets  of  men 
by  Jesus  Christ"  (Rom.  ii.  16).  For  this  also  is  good 
news  of  God,  "  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom."  And  like 
"the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,"  it  treats  of  His  attitude 
toward  us,  more  than  ours  toward  Him,  which  latter  is 
the  result  rather  than  the  substance  of  it.  That  He 
rules,  and  not  the  devil  ;  that  we  shall  answer  at  last  to 
Him  and  to  none  lower ;  that  Satan  lied  when  he 
claimed  to  possess  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth,  and  to 
dispose  of  them  ;  that  Christ  has  now  received  from  far 
different  hands  "  all  power  on  earth  " ;  this  is  a  gospel 
which  the  world  has  not  yet  learned  to  welcome,  nor 
the  Church  fully  to  proclaim. 

Now  the  scriptural  use  of  this  term  is  quite  as  im- 
portant to  religious  emotion  as  to  accuracy  of  thought. 
All  true  emotions  hide  their  fountain  too  deep  for  self- 
consciousness  to  find.  We  feel  best  when  our  feeling 
is  forgotten.  Not  while  we  think  about  finding  peace, 
but  while  we  approach  God  as  a  Father,  and  are  anxious 
for  nothing,  but  in  everything  by  prayer  and  supplication 
with  thanksgiving  make  known  our  requests,  is  it 
promised  that  the  peace  of  God  which  passeth  all 
understanding  shall  guard  our  hearts  and  our  thoughts 
(Phil.  iv.  7).     And  many  a  soul  of  the  righteous,  whom 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


faith  in  the  true  gospel  fills  with  trembling  adoration,  is 
made  sad  by  the  inflexible  demand  for  certain  realised 
personal  experiences  as  the  title  to  recognition  as  a 
Christian.  That  great  title  belonged  at  the  first  to  all 
who  would  learn  of  Jesus  :  the  disciples  were  called 
Christians.  To  acquaint  ourselves  with  Him,  that  is 
to  be  at  peace. 

Meantime,  we  observe  that  the  new  movement  which 
now  begins  is  not,  like  Judaism,  a  law  which  brings 
death  ;  nor  like  Buddhism,  a  path  in  which  one  must 
walk  as  best  he  may  :  it  differs  from  all  other  systems 
in  being  essentially  the  announcement  of  good  tidings 
from  above. 

Yet  "  the  beginning  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ " 
is  a  profound  agitation  and  widespread  alarm.  Lest  the 
soothing  words  of  Jesus  should  blend  like  music  with 
the  slumber  of  sinners  at  ease  in  Zion,  John  came 
preaching  repentance,  and  what  is  more,  a  baptism  of 
repentance  ;  not  such  a  lustration  as  was  most  familiar 
to  the  Mosaic  law,  administered  by  the  worshipper  to 
himself,  but  an  ablution  at  other  hands,  a  confession 
that  one  is  not  only  soiled,  but  soiled  beyond  all 
cleansing  of  his  own.  Formal  Judaism  was  one  long 
struggle  for  self-purification.  The  dawn  of  a  new 
system  is  visible  in  the  movem.ent  of  all  Judaea  towards 
one  who  bids  them  throw  every  such  hope  away,  and 
come  to  him  for  the  baptism  of  repentance,  and  expect 
a  Greater  One,  who  shall  baptize  them  with  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  with  fire.  And  the  true  function  of  the 
predicted  herald,  the  best  levelling  of  the  rugged  ways 
of  humanity  for  the  Promised  One  to  traverse,  was  in 
this  universal  diffusion  of  the  sense  of  sin.  For  Christ 
was  not  come  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners  to 
repentance. 


Mark  i.  1-6.]     THE   BEGINNING   OF    THE    GOSPEL. 


In  truth,  the  movement  of  the  Baptist,  with  its 
double  aspect,  gathers  up  all  the  teaching  of  the  past. 
He  produced  conviction,  and  he  promised  help.  One 
lesson  of  all  sacred  history  is  universal  failure.  The 
innocence  of  Eden  cannot  last.  The  law  with  its 
promise  of  life  to  the  man  who  doeth  these  things, 
issued  practically  in  the  knowledge  of  sin  ;  it  entered 
that  sin  might  abound;  it  made  a  formal  confession  of 
universal  sin,  year  by  year,  continually.  And  there- 
fore its  fitting  close  was  a  baptism  of  repentance 
universally  accepted.  Alas,  not  universally.  For 
while  we  read  of  all  the  nation  swayed  by  one  im- 
pulse, and  rushing  to  the  stern  teacher  who  had  no 
share  in  its  pleasures  or  its  luxuries,  whose  life  was 
separated  from  its  concerns,  and  whose  food  was  the 
simplest  that  could  sustain  existence,  yet  we  know  that 
when  they  heard  how  deep  his  censures  pierced,  and 
how  unsparingly  he  scourged  their  best  loved  sins,  the 
loudest  professors  of  religion  rejected  the  counsel  of 
God  against  themselves,  being  not  baptized  of  Him. 
Nevertheless,  by  coming  to  Him,  they  also  had  pleaded 
guilty.  Something  they  needed  ;  they  were  sore  at 
heart,  and  would  have  welcomed  any  soothing  balm, 
although  they  refused  the  surgeon's  knife. 

The  law  did  more  than  convict  men  ;  it  inspired  hope. 
The  promise  of  a  Redeemer  shone  like  a  rainbow 
across  the  dark  story  of  the  past.  He  was  the  end  of 
all  the  types,  at  once  the  Victim  and  the  Priest.  To 
Him  gave  all  the  prophets  witness,  and  the  Baptist 
brought  all  past  attainment  to  its  full  height,  and  was 
"  more  than  a  prophet"  when  he  announced  the  actual 
presence  of  the  Christ,  when  he  pointed  out  to  the  first 
two  Apostles,  the  Lamb  of  God. 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 


AT  THE  JORDAN. 

"  And  he  preached,  saying,  There  cometli  after  me  He  that  is  mightier 
than  I,  the  iatchet  of  whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  stoop  down  and 
unloose.  I  baptized  you  with  water  ;  but  He  shall  baptize  you  witli 
the  Holy  Ghost.  And  it  came  to  pass  in  those  days,  that  Jesus  came 
from  Nazareth  of  Galilee,  and  was  baptized  of  John  in  the  Jordan. 
And  straightway  coming  up  out  of  the  water.  He  saw  the  heavens  rent 
asunder,  and  the  Spirit  as  a  dove  descending  upon  Him  :  and  a  voice 
came  out  of  the  heavens,  Thou  art  My  Beloved  Son,  in  Thee  I  am 
well  pleased."— Mark  i.  7-1 1  (R.V.). 

It  was  when  all  men  mused  in  their  hearts  whether 
John  was  the  Christ  or  no,  that  he  announced  the 
coming  of  a  Stronger  One.  By  thus  promptly  silencing 
a  whisper,  so  honourable  to  himself,  he  showed  how 
strong  he  really  was,  and  how  unselfish  "  a  friend  ot 
the  Bridegroom."  Nor  was  this  the  vague  humility  of 
phrase  which  is  content  to  be  lowly  in  general,  so  long 
as  no  specified  individual  stands  higher.  His  word  is 
definite,  and  accepts  much  for  himself.  "  The  Stronger 
One  than  I  cometh,"  and  it  is  in  presence  of  the  might 
of  Jesus  (whom  yet  this  fiery  reformer  called  a  Lamb), 
that  he  feels  himself  unworthy  to  bend  to  the  dust  and 
unbind  the  latchets  or  laces  of  his  shoe. 

So  then,  though  asceticism  be  sometimes  good,  it  is 
consciously  not  the  highest  nor  the  most  effective 
goodness.  Perhaps  it  is  the  most  impressive.  With- 
out a  miracle,  tlie  preaching  of  John  shook  the  nation 
as  widely  as  that  of  Jesus  melted  it,  and  prepared 
men's  hearts  for  His.  A  king  consulted  and  feared 
him.  And  when  the  Pharisees  v,-ere  at  open  feud  with 
Jesus,  they  feared  to  be  stoned  if  they  should  pronounce 
John's  baptism  to  be  of  men. 

Yet   is   there  weakness   lurking   even    in    the   very 


Mark  i.  7- 1 1 . ]  AT   THE  JORDAN.  7 

quality  which  gives  asceticism  its  power.  That  stern 
seclusion  from  an  evil  world,  that  peremptory  denial 
of  its  charms,  why  are  they  so  impressive  ?  Because 
they  set  an  example  to  those  wlio  are  hard  beset,  of 
the  one  way  of  escape,  the  cutting  off  of  the  hand  and 
foot,  the  plucking  out  of  the  eye.  And  our  Lord 
enjoins  such  mutilation  of  the  life  upon  those  whom 
its  gifts  betray.  Yet  is  it  as  the  halt  and  maimed  that 
such  men  enter  into  life.  The  ascetic  is  a  man  who 
needs  to  sternly  repress  and  deny  his  impulses,  wlio 
is  conscious  of  traitors  within  his  breast  that  may 
revolt  if  the  enemy  be  suffered  to  approach  too  near. 

It  is  harder  to  be  a  holy  friend  of  publicans  and 
sinners,  a  witness  for  God  while  eating  and  drinking  ' 
with  these,  than  to  remain  in  the  desert  undefiled.  It 
is  greater  to  convert  a  sinful  woman  in  familiar  con- 
verse by  the  well,  than  to  shake  trembling  multitudes 
by  threats  of  the  fire  for  the  chaff  and  the  axe  for  the 
barren  tree.  And  John  confessed  this.  In  the  supreme 
moment  of  his  life,  he  added  his  own  confession  to  that 
of  all  his  nation.  This  rugged  ascetic  had  need  to  be 
baptized  of  Him  who  came  eating  and  drinking. 

Nay,  he  taught  that  all  his  work  was  but  superficial, 
a  baptism  with  water  to  reach  the  surface  of  men's  life, 
to  check,  at  the  most,  exaction  and  violence  and 
neglect  of  the  wants  of  others,  while  the  Greater  One 
should  baptize  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  should  pierce 
the  depths  of  human  nature,  and  throughly  purge  His 
floor. 

Nothing  could  refute  more  clearly  than  our  three 
simple  narratives,  the  sceptical  notion  that  Jesus 
yielded  for  awhile  to  the  dominating  influence  of  the 
Baptist.  Only  from  the  Gospels  can  we  at  all  connect 
the  two.     And  what  we  read  here  is,  that  before  Jesus 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


came,  John  expected  his  Superior;  that  when  they  met, 
John  declared  his  own  need  to  be  baptized  of  Him, 
that  he,  nevertheless,  submitted  to  the  will  of  Jesus, 
and  thereupon  heard  a  voice  from  the  heavens  which 
must  for  ever  have  destroyed  all  notion  of  equality  ;  that 
afterwards  he  only  saw  Jesus  at  a  distance,  and  made 
a  confession  which  transferred  two  of  his  disciples  to 
our  Lord. 

The  criticism  which  transforms  our  Lord's  part  in 
these  events  to  that  of  a  pupil  is  far  more  wilful  than 
would  be  tolerated  in  dealing  with  any  other  record. 
And  it  too  palpably  springs  from  the  need  to  find  some 
human  inspiration  for  the  Word  of  God,  some  candle 
from  which  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  took  fire,  if  one 
would  escape  the  confession  that  He  is  not  of  this 
world. 

But  here  we  meet  a  deeper  question  :  Not  why  Jesus 
accepted  baptism  from  an  inferior,  but  why,  being  sin- 
less, He  sought  for  a  baptism  of  repentance.  How  is 
this  act  consistent  with  absolute  and  stainless  purity  ? 

Now  it  sometimes  lightens  a  difficulty  to  find  that  it 
is  not  occasional  nor  accidental,  but  wrought  deep  into 
the  plan  of  a  consistent  work.  And  the  Gospels  are 
consistent  in  representing  the  innocence  of  Jesus  as 
refusing  immunity  from  the  consequences  of  guilt.  He 
was  circumcised,  and  His  mother  then  paid  the  offering 
commanded  by  the  law,  although  both  these  actions 
spoke  of  defilement.  In  submitting  to  the  likeness  of 
sinful  flesh  He  submitted  to  its  conditions.  He  was 
present  at  feasts  in  which  national  confessions  led  up 
to  sacrifice,  and  the  sacrificial  blood  was  sprinkled  to 
make  atonement  for  the  children  of  Israel,  because  of 
all  their  sins.  When  He  tasted  death  itself,  which 
passed   upon    all    men,    for  that    all   have  sinned,    He 


Mark  i.  7- 1 1 .  ]  AT   THE  JORDA  N.  g 

carried  out  to  the  utmost  the  same  stern  rule  to  which 
at  His  baptism  He  consciously  submitted.  Nor  will 
any  theory  of  His  atonement  suffice,  which  is  content 
with  believing  that  His  humiliations  and  sufferings, 
though  inevitable,  were  only  collateral  results  of  con- 
tact with  our  fallen  race.  Baptism  was  avoidable,  and 
that  without  any  compromise  of  His  influence,  since  the 
Pharisees  refused  it  with  impunity,  and  John  would 
fain  have  exempted  Him.  Here  at  least  He  was  not 
"  entangled  in  the  machinery,"  but  deliberately  turned 
the  wheels  upon  Himself.  And  this  is  the  more  im- 
pressive because,  in  another  aspect  of  affairs,  He 
claimed  to  be  out  of  the  reach  of  ceremonial  defile- 
ment, and  touched  without  reluctance  disease,  leprosy 
and  the  dead. 

Humiliating  and  penal  consequences  of  sin,  to  these 
He  bowed  His  head.  Yet  to  a  confession  of  personal 
taint,  never.  And  all  the  accounts  agree  that  He  never 
was  less  conscience-stricken  than  when  He  shared  the 
baptism  of  repentance.  St.  Matthew  implies,  what  St. 
Luke  plainly  declares,  that  He  did  not  come  to  baptism 
along  with  the  crowds  of  penitents,  but  separately. 
And  at  the  point  where  all  others  made  confession,  in 
the  hour  when  even  the  Baptist,  although  filled  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  from  his  mother's  womb,  had  need  to 
be  baptized,  He  only  felt  the  propriety,  the  fitness  of 
fulfilling  all  righteousness.  That  mighty  task  was  not 
even  a  yoke  to  Him,  it  was  an  instinct  like  that  of 
beauty  to  an  artist,  it  was  what  became  Him. 

St.  Mark  omits  even  this  evidence  of  sinlessness. 
His  energetic  method  is  like  that  of  a  great  commander, 
who  seizes  at  all  costs  the  vital  point  upon  the  battle 
field.  He  constantly  omits  what  is  subordinate 
(although    very    conscious    of    the    power   of    graphic 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


details),  when  by  so  doing  he  can  force  the  central 
thought  upon  the  mind.  Here  he  concentrates  our 
attention  upon  the  witness  from  above,  upon  the  rend- 
ing asunder  of  the  heavens  which  unfold  all  their 
heights  over  a  bended  head,  upon  the  visible  descent 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  His  fulness,  upon  the  voice  from 
the  heavens  which  pealed  through  the  souls  of  these 
two  peerless  worshippers,  and  proclaimed  that  He  who 
had  gone  down  to  the  baptismal  flood  was  no  sinner 
to  be  forgiven,  but  the  beloved  Son  of  God,  in  whom 
He  is  well  pleased. 

That  is  our  Evangelist's  answer  to  all  misunder- 
standing of  the  rite,  and  it  is  enough. 

How  do  men  think  of  heaven  ?  Perhaps  only  as  a 
remote  point  in  space,  where  flames  a  material  and 
solid  structure  into  which  it  is  the  highest  bliss  to 
enter.  A  place  there  must  be  to  which  the  Body 
of  our  Lord  ascended  and  whither  He  shall  yet  lead 
home  His  followers  in  spiritual  bodies  to  be  with  Him 
where  He  is.  If,  however,  only  this  be  heaven,  we 
should  hold  that  in  the  revolutions  of  the  solar  system 
it  hung  just  then  vertically  above  the  Jordan,  a  few 
fathoms  or  miles  aloft.  But  we  also  believe  in  a 
spiritual  city,  in  which  the  pillars  are  living  saints, 
an  all-embracing  blessedness  and  rapture  and  depth  of 
revelation,  whereinto  holy  mortals  in  their  highest 
moments  have  been  "caught  up,"  a  heaven  whose 
angels  ascend  and  descend  upon  the  Son  of  man.  In 
this  hour  of  highest  consecration,  these  heavens  were 
thrown  open — rent  asunder — for  the  gaze  of  our  Lord 
and  of  the  Baptist.  They  were  opened  again  when  the 
first  martyr  died.  And  we  read  that  what  eye  hath 
not  seen  nor  ear  heard  nor  heart  conceived  of  the 
preparation  of  God  for  them  that  love  Him,  He  hath 


Marki.  7-II.]  AT  THE  JORDAN.  ll 

already  revealed  to  them  by  His  Spirit.  To  others 
there  is  only  cloud  or  "  the  infinite  azure,"  as  to  the 
the  crowd  by  the  Jordan  and  the  murderers  of  Stephen. 

Now  it  is  to  be  observed  that  we  never  read  of  Jesus 
being  caught  up  into  heaven  for  a  space,  like  St.  Paul 
or  St.  John.  What  we  read  is,  that  while  on  earth  the 
Son  of  man  is  in  Heaven  (John  iii.  13),*  for  heaven  is 
the  manifestation  of  God,  whose  truest  glory  was  re- 
vealed in  the  grace  and  truth  of  Jesus. 

Along  with  this  revelation,  the  Holy  Spirit  was  mani- 
fested wondrously.  His  appearance,  indeed,  is  quite 
unlike  what  it  was  to  others.  At  Pentecost  He  became 
visible,  but  since  each  disciple  received  only  a  portion, 
"  according  to  his  several  ability,"  his  fitting  symbol 
was  "  tongues  parting  asunder  like  as  of  fire."  He 
came  as  an  element  powerful  and  pervasive,  not  as 
a  Personality  bestowed  in  all  His  vital  force  on  any 
one. 

So,  too,  the  phrase  which  John  used,  when  predicting 
that  Jesus  should  baptize  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  slightly 
though  it  differs  from  what  is  here,  implies  f  that 
only  a  portion  is  to  be  given,  not  the  fulness.  And 
the  angel  who  foretold  to  Zacharias  that  John  himself 
should  be  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  conveyed  the 
same  limitation  in  his  words.  John  received  all  that 
he  was  able  to  receive  :  he  was  filled.  But  how  should 
mortal  capacity  exhaust  the  fulness  of  Deity  ?  And 
Who  is  this,  upon  Whom,  while  John  is  but  an  awe- 
stricken  beholder,  the  Spirit  of  God  descends  in  all 
completeness,  a  living  organic  unity,  like  a  dove?  Only 
the  Infinite  is  capable  of  receiving  such  a  gift,  and  this 

*  Cf.  the  admirable  note  in  Archdeacon  Watkins'  "  Commentary  on 
John." 

J  By  the  absence  of  the  article  in  the  Greek. 


GO  SI' EL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


is  He  in  Whom  dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of  the  God- 
head bodily.  No  wonder  then  that  "  in  bodily  form  " 
as  a  dove,  the  Spirit  of  God  descended  upon  Him 
alone.  Henceforward  He  became  the  great  Dispenser, 
and  "  the  Spirit  emanated  from  Him  as  perfume  from 
the  rose  when  it  has  opened." 

At  the  same  time  was  heard  a  Voice  from  heaven. 
And  the  bearing  of  this  passage  upon  the  Trinity 
becomes  clear,  when  we  combine  the  manifestation  of 
the  Spirit  in  living  Personality,  and  the  Divine  Voice, 
not  from  the  Dove  but  from  the  heavens,  with  the 
announcement  that  Jesus  is  oot  merely  beloved  and 
well-pleasing,  but  a  Son,  and  in  this  high  sense  the 
only  Son,  since  the  words  are  literally  "  Thou  art  the 
Son  of  Me,  the  beloved."  And  yet  He  is  to  bring  many 
sons  unto  glory. 

Is  it  consistent  with  due  reverence  to  believe  that 
this  voice  conveyed  a  message  to  our  Lord  Himself? 
Even  so  liberal  a  critic  as  Neander  has  denied  this. 
But  if  we  grasp  the  meaning  of  what  we  believe,  that 
He  upon  taking  flesh  "emptied  Himself,"  that  He  in- 
creased in  wisdom  during  His  youth,  and  that  there 
was  a  day  and  hour  which  to  the  end  of  life  He  knew 
not,  we  need  not  suppose  that  His  infancy  was  so 
unchildlike  as  the  realisation  of  His  mysterious  and 
awful  Personality  would  make  it.  There  must  then 
have  been  a  period  when  His  perfect  human  develop- 
ment rose  up  into  what  Renan  calls  (more  accurately 
than  he  knows)  identification  of  Himself  with  the  object 
of  His  devotion,  carried  to  the  utmost  limit.  Nor  is 
this  period  quite  undiscoverable,  for  when  it  arrived  it 
would  seem  highly  unnatural  to  postpone  His  public 
ministry  further.  Now  this  reasonable  inference  is 
entirely  supported    by    the    narrative.       St.    Matthew 


Mark  i.  12,  13-]  THE    TEI\IPTATION.  -13 

indeed  regards  the  event  from  the  Baptist's  point  of 
vision.  But  St.  Mark  and  St.  Luke  are  agreed  that 
to  Jesus  Himself  it  was  also  said,  "  Thou  art  My 
beloved  Son."  Now  this  is  not  the  way  to  teach  us 
that  the  testimony  came  only  to  John.  And  how 
solemn  a  thought  is  this,  that  the  full  certitude  of  His 
destiny  expanded  before  the  eyes  of  Jesus,  just  when 
He  lifted  them  from  those  baptismal  waters  in  which 
He  stooped  so  low. 

THE    TEMPTATION. 

*'  And  straightway  the  Spirit  driveth  Him  forth  into  the  wilderness. 
And  He  was  in  the  wilderness  forty  days  tempted  of  Satan  ;  and  He 
was  with  the  wild  beasts  ;  and  the  angels  ministered  unto  Him."— 
Mark  i.  12,  13  (R.V.). 

St.  Mark  has  not  recorded  the  details  of  our  Lord's 
temptations,  and  lays  more  stress  upon  the  duration 
of  the  struggle,  than  the  nature  of  the  last  and  crown- 
ing assaults.  But  he  is  careful,  like  the  others,  to 
connect  it  closely  with  the  baptism  of  Jesus,  and  the 
miraculous  testimony  then  borne  to  Him. 

It  is  indeed  instructive  that  He  should  have  suffered 
this  affront,  immediately  upon  being  recognised  as  the 
Messiah.  But  the  explanation  will  not  be  found  in 
the  notion,  which  Milton  has  popularised,  that  only 
now  Satan  was  assured  of  the  urgent  necessity  for 
attacking  Him  : 

"That  heard  the  adversary  .   .  .   and  with  the  voice  Divine 
Nigh  thunderstruck,  the  exalted  Man,  to  whom 
Such  high  attest  was  given,  awhile  surveyed 
With  wonder." 

As  if  Satan  forgot  the  marvels  of  the  sacred  infancy. 
As  if  the  spirits  who  attack  all  could  have  failed  to 
identify,  after  thirty  years  of  defeat,  the  Greater  One 


14  GOSPEL    OF  ST.  MARK. 

whom  the  Baptist  had  everywhere  proclaimed.  No. 
But  Satan  admirably  chose  the  time  for  a  supreme 
effort.  High  places  are  dizzy,  a'^-^  especially  when 
one  has  just  attained  them  ;  and  th^  fore  it  was  when 
the  voice  of  the  herald  and  the  Voice  from  the 
heavens  were  blended  in  acclaim,  that  the  Evil  One 
tried  all  his  arts.  He  had  formerly  plunged  Elijah 
into  despair  and  a  desire  to  die,  immediately  after  fire 
from  heaven  responded  to  the  prophet's  prayer.  Soon 
after  this,  he  would  degrade  Peter  to  be  his  mouth- 
piece, just  when  his  noblest  testimony  was  borne,  and 
the  highest  approval  of  his  Lord  was  won.  In  the 
flush  of  their  triumphs  he  found  his  best  opportunity; 
but  Jesus  remained  unflushed,  and  met  the  first 
recorded  temptation,  in  the  full  consciousness  of  Mes- 
siahship,  by  quoting  the  words  which  spoke  to  every 
man  alike,   and  as  man. 

It  is  a  lesson  which  the  weakest  needs  to  learn,  for 
little  victories  can  intoxicate  little  men. 

It  is  easy  then  to  see  why  the  recorded  temptations 
insist  upon  the  exceptional  dignity  of  Christ,  and  urge 
Him  to  seize  its  advantages,  while  He  insists  on 
bearing  the  common  burden,  and  proves  Himself 
greatest  by  becoming  least  of  all.  The  sharp  contrast 
between  His  circumstances  and  His  rank  drove  the 
temptations  deep  into  His  consciousness,  and  wounded 
His  sensibilities,  though  they  failed  to  shake  His 
will. 

How  unnatural  that  the  Son  of  God  should  lack  and 
suffer  hunger,  how  right  that  He  should  challenge 
recognition,  how  needful  (though  now  His  sacred 
Personality  is  cunningl}'  allowed  to  fall  somewhat  into 
the  background)  that  He  should  obtain  armies  and 
splendour. 


Mark  i.  12,  13.]  THE    TEMPTATION.  15 


This  explains  the  possibility  of  temptation  in  a  sin- 
less nature,  which  indeed  can  only  be  denied  by 
assuming  that  =•-  is  part  of  the  original  creation.  Not 
because  we  art  -olnful,  but  because  we  are  flesh  and 
blood  (of  which  He  became  partaker),  when  we  feel 
the  pains  of  hunger  Ave  are  attracted  by  food,  at 
whatever  price  it  is  offered.  In  truth,  no  man  is 
allured  by  sin,  but  only  by  the  bait  and  bribe  of  sin, 
except  perhaps  in  the  last  stages  of  spiritual  decom- 
position. 

Now,  just  as  the  bait  allures,  and  not  the  jaws  of 
the  trap,  so  the  power  of  a  temptation  is  not  its 
wickedness,  not  the  guilty  service,  but  the  proffered 
recompense ;  and  this  appeals  to  the  most  upright 
man,  equally  with  the  most  corrupt.  Thus  the  stress 
of  a"  temptation  is  to  be  measured  by  our  gravitation, 
not  towards  the  sin,  but  towards  the  pleasure  or 
advantage  which  is  entangled  with  that.  And  this 
may  be  realised  even  more  powerfully  by  a  man  of 
keen  feeling  and  vivid  imagination  who  does  not  falter, 
than  by  a  grosser  nature  which  succumbs. 

Now  Jesus  was  a  perfect  man.  To  His  exquisite 
sensibilities,  which  had  neither  inherited  nor  contracted 
any  blemish,  the  pain  of  hunger  at  the  opening  of  His 
ministry,  and  the  horror  of  the  cross  at  its  close,  were 
not  less  intense,  but  sharper  than  to  ours.  And  this 
pain  and  horror  measured  the  temptation  to  evade 
them.  The  issue  never  hung  in  the  scales ;  even  to 
hesitate  would  have  been  to  forfeit  the  delicate  bloom 
of  absolute  sinlessness  ;  but,  none  the  less,  the  decision 
was  costly,  the  tem.ptation  poignant. 

St,  Mark  has  given  us  no  details ;  but  there  is 
immense  and  compressed  power  in  the  assertion,  only 
his,   that  the   temptation  lasted   all    through  the   forty 


1 6  GOSFEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

days.  We  know  the  power  of  an  unremitting  pressure, 
an  incessant  innportunity,  a  haunting  thought.  A  very 
trifling  annoyance,  long  protracted,  drives  men  to 
strange  remedies.  And  the  remorseless  urgency  of 
Satan  may  be  measured  by  what  St.  Matthew  tells  us, 
that  only  after  the  forty  days  Jesus  became  aware  of 
the  pains  of  hunger.  Perhaps  the  assertion  that  He 
was  with  the  wild  beasts  may  throw  some  ray  of  light 
upon  the  nature  of  the  temptation.  There  is  no  in- 
timation of  bodily  peril.  On  the  other  hand  it  seems 
incredible  that  what  is  hinted  is  His  own  consciousness 
of  the  supernatural  dignity  from  which 

"  The  fiery  serpent  fled,  and  noxious  worm  ; 
The  lion  and  fierce  tiger  glared  aloof." 

Such  a  consciousness  would  have  relieved  the  strain 
of  which  their  presence  is  evidently  a  part.  Nay, 
but  the  oppressive  solitude,  the  waste  region  so  unlike 
His  blooming  Nazareth,  and  the  ferocity  of  the  brute 
creation,  all  would  conspire  to  suggest  those  dread 
misgivings  and  questionings  which  are  provoked  by 
"  the  something  that  infects  the  world." 

Surely  we  may  believe  that  He  Who  was  tempted 
at  all  points  like  as  we  are,  felt  now  the  deadly  chill 
which  falls  upon  the  soul  from  the  shadow  of  our 
ruined  earth.  In  our  nature  He  boi€  the  assault  and 
overcame.  And  then  His  human  nature  condescended 
to  accept  help,  such  as  ours  receives,  from  the  minis- 
tering spirits  which  are  sent  forth  to  minister  to  them 
that  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation.  So  perfectly  was  He 
made  like  unto  His  brethren. 


Mark  i.  14-20.]  EARLY  PREACHING.  '     17 


THE  EARLY  PREACHING  AND  THE  FIRST  DISCIPLES. 

"Now  after  that  John  was  delivered  up,  Jesus  came  mto  Galilee 
preaching  the  gospel  of  God,  and  saying,  The  time  is  fulfilled,  and  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand  :  repent  ye,  and  believe  in  the  gospel.  And 
passing  along  by  the  sea  of  Galilee,  He  saw  Simon  and  Andrew  the 
brother  of  Simon  casting  a  net  in  the  sea  ;  for  they  were  fishers.  And 
Jesus  said  unto  them,  Come  ye  after  Me,  and  I  will  make  you  to  be- 
come fishers  of  men.  And  straightway  they  left  the  nets,  and  followed 
Him.  And  going  on  a  little  further,  He  saw  James  the  son  of  Zebedee, 
and  John  his  brother,  who  also  were  in  the  boat  mending  the  nets.  And 
straightway  He  called  them  :  and  they  left  their  father  Zebedee  in  the  boat 
with  the  hired  servants,  and  went  after  Him." — Mark  i.  14-20  (R.V.). 

St.  Mark  has  shown  us  the  Baptist  proclaiming  Christ. 
He  now  tells  us  that  when  John  was  imprisoned, 
Jesus,  turning  from  that  Judean  ministry  which 
stirred  the  jealousy  of  John's  disciples  (John  iii.  26), 
"  came  into  Galilee,  preaching."  And  one  looks  twice 
before  observing  that  His  teaching  is  a  distinct  advance 
upon  the  herald's.  Men  are  still  to  repent ;  for  how- 
ever slightly  modern  preachers  may  heal  the  hurt  of 
souls,  real  contrition  is  here  taken  over  into  the  gospel 
scheme.  But  the  time  which  was  hitherto  said  to 
be  at  hand  is  now  fulfilled.  And  they  are  not  only 
to  believe  the  gospel,  but  to  "  believe  in  it."  Reliance, 
the  effort  of  the  soul  by  which  it  ceases  equally  to  be 
self-confident  anu  to  despair,  confiding  itself  to  some 
word  which  is  a  gospel,  or  some  being  who  has 
salvation  to  bestow,  that  is  belief  in  its  object.  And 
it  is  highly  important  to  observe  that  faith  is  thus 
made  prominent  so  early  in  our  Lord's  teaching.  The 
vitalizing  power  of  faith  was  no  discovery  of  St.  Paul ; 
it  was  not  evolved  by  devout  meditation  after  Jesus 
had  passed  from  view,  nor  introduced  into  His  system 
when  opposition  forced  Him  to  bind  men  to  Him  in  a 

2 


l8  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

stronger  allegiance.  The  power  of  faith  is  implied  in 
His  earliest  preaching,  and  it  is  connected  with  His 
earliest  miracles.  But  no  such  phrase  as  the  power  of 
faith  is  ever  used.  Faith  is  precious  only  as  it  leans 
on  what  is  trustworthy.  And  it  is  produced,  not  by 
thinking  of  faith  itself,  but  of  its  proper  object.  There- 
fore Christ  did  not  come  preaching  faith,  but  preaching 
the  gospel  of  God,  and  bidding  men  believe  in  that. 

Shall  we  not  follow  His  example  ?  It  is  morally 
certain  that  Abraham  never  heard  of  salvation  by  faith, 
yet  he  was  justified  by  faith  when  he  believed  in  Him 
Who  justifieth  the  ungodly.  To  preach  Him,  and  His 
gospel,  is  the  way  to  lead  men  to  be  saved  by  faith. 

Few  things  are  more  instructive  to  consider  than 
the  slow,  deliberate,  yet  firm  steps  by  which  Christ 
advanced  to  the  revelation  of  God  in  flesh.  Thirty 
years  of  silence,  forty  days  of  seclusion  after  heaven 
had  proclaimed  Him,  leisurely  intercourse  with  Andrew 
and  John,  Peter  and  Nathanael,  and  then  a  brief 
ministry  in  a  subject  nation,  and  chiefly  in  a  despised 
province.  It  is  not  the  action  of  a  fanatic.  It  exactly 
fulfils  His  own  description  of  the  kingdom  which  He 
proclaimed,  which  was  to  exhibit  first  the  blade,  then 
the  ear,  then  the  full  corn  in  the  ear.  And  it  is  a 
lesson  to  all  time,  that  the  boldest  expectations  possible 
to  faith  do  not  justify  feverish  haste  and  excited  long- 
ings for  immediate  prominence  or  immediate  success. 
The  husbandman  who  has  long  patience  with  the  seed 
is  not  therefore  hopeless  of  the  harvest. 

Passing  by  the  sea  of  Galilee,  Jesus  finds  two  fisher- 
men at  their  toil,  and  bids  them  follow  Him.  Both  are 
men  of  decided  and  earnest  character;  one  is  to  become 
the  spokesman  and  leader  of  the  Apostolic  band,  and 
the  little  which  is  recorded  of  the  other  iiidicates  the 


Maiki.  I4-20.]  EARLY  PREACHING.  19 

same  temperament,  somewhat  less  developed:  Our 
Lord  now  calls  upon  them  to  take  a  decided  step.  But 
here  again  we  find  traces  of  the  same  deliberate  pro- 
gression, the  same  absence  of  haste,  as  in  His  early 
preaching.  He  does  not,  as  unthinking  readers  fancy, 
come  upon  two  utter  strangers,  fascinate  and  arrest  them 
in  a  moment,  and  sweep  their  lives  into  the  vortex  of  His 
own.  Andrew  had  already  heard  the  Baptist  proclaim 
the  Lamb  of  God,  had  followed  Jesus  home,  and  had  in- 
troduced his  brother,  to  whom  Jesus  then  gave  the  new 
name  Cephas.  Their  faith  had  since  been  confirmed  by 
miracles.  The  demands  of  our  Lord  may  be  trying,  but 
they  are  never  unreasonable,  and  the  faith  He  claims  is 
not  a  blind  credulity. 

Nor  does  He,  even  now,  finally  and  entirely  call 
them  away  from  their  occupation.  Some  time  is  still 
to  elapse,  and  a  sign,  especially  impressive  to  fisher- 
men, the  miraculous  draught  of  fishes,  is  to  burn  into 
their  minds  a  profound  sense  of  their  unworthiness, 
before  the  vocation  now  promised  shall  arrive.  Then 
He  will  say,  From  henceforth  ye  shall  catch  men  :  now 
He  says,  I  will  prepare  you  for  that  future,  I  will  make 
you  to  become  fishers  of  men.  So  ungrounded  is  the 
suspicion  of  any  confusion  between  the  stories  of  the 
three  steps  by  which  they  rose  to  their  Apostleship. 

A  little  further  on,  He  finds  the  twD  sons  of  Zebedee, 
and  calls  them  also.  John  had  almost  certainly  been 
the  companion  of  Andrew  when  he  followed  Jesus 
home,  and  his  brother  had  become  the  sharer  of  his 
hopes.  And  if  there  were  any  hesitation,  the  example 
of  their  comrades  helped  them  to  decide — so  soon,  so 
mevitably  does  each  disciple  begin  to  be  a  fisher  of  other 
men — and  leaving  their  father,  as  we  are  gracefully  told, 
not  desolate,  but  with  servants,  they  also  follow  Jesus. 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


Thus  He  asks,  from  each  group,  the  sacrifice  involved 
in  following  Him  at  an  inconvenient  time.  The  first 
are  casting  their  nets  and  eager  in  their  quest.  The 
others  are  mending  their  nets,  perhaps  after  some  large 
draught  had  broken  them.  So  Levi  was  sitting  at  the 
receipt  of  toll.  Not  one  of  the  Twelve  was  chosen 
to  that  high  rank  when  idle. 

Very  charming,  very  powerful  still  is  the  spell  by 
which  Christ  drew  His  first  apostles  to  His  side. 
Not  yet  are  they  told  anything  of  thrones  on  which 
they  are  to  sit  and  judge  the  tribes  of  Israel,  or  that 
their  names  shall  be  engraven  on  the  foundations  of 
the  heavenly  city  besides  being  great  on  earth  while 
the  world  stands.  For  them,  the  capture  of  men  was 
less  lucrative  than  that  offish,  and.  less  honourable, 
for  they  suffered  the  loss  of  all  things  and  were  made 
as  the  filth  of  the  earth.  To  learn  Christ's  art,  to  be 
made  helpful  in  drawing  souls  to  Him,  following  Jesus 
and  catching  men,  this  was  enough  to  attract  His  first 
ministers  ;  God  grant  that  a  time  may  never  come 
when  ministers  for  whom  this  is  enough,  shall  fail. 
Where  the  spirit  of  self  devotion  is  absent  how  can 
the  Spirit  of  Christ  exist  ? 

TEACHING    WITH  AUTHORITY. 

"  And  they  go  into  Capernaum  ;  and  straightway  on  the  sabbath 
day  He  entered  into  the  synagogue  and  taught.  And  they  were  aston- 
ibhed  at  His  teaching  :  for  He  taught  them  as  having  authority,  and 
not  as  the  scribes." — Mark  i.  21,  22  (R.V.). 

The  worship  of  the  synagogues,  not  having  been 
instituted  by  Moses,  but  gradually  developed  by  the 
public  need,  was  comparatively  free  and  unconven- 
tional.    Sometimes  it    happened  that  remarkable  and 


Mark  i.  21,22.]      TEACHING    WITH  AUTHORITY.  21 

serious-looking  strangers  were  invited,  if  they  had  any 
word  of  exhortation,  to  say  on  (Acts  xiii.  15).  Some- 
times one  presented  himself,  as  the  custom  of  our  Lord 
was  (Luke  iv.  16).  Amid  the  dull  mechanical  ten- 
dencies which  were  then  turning  the  heart  of  Judaism 
to  stone,  the  synagogue  may  have  been  often  a  centre 
of  life  and  rallying-place  of  freedom.  In  Galilee,  where 
such  worship  predominated  over  that  of  the  remote 
Temple  and  its  hierarchy,  Jesus  found  His  trusted 
followers  and  the  nucleus  of  the  Church.  In  foreign 
lands,  St.  Paul  bore  first  to  his  brethren  in  their  syna- 
gogues the  strange  tidings  that  their  Messiah  had 
expired  upon  a  cross.  And  before  His  rupture  with 
the  chiefs  of  Judaism,  the  synagogues  were  fitting 
places  for  our  Lord's  early  teaching.  He  made  use  of 
the  existing  system,  and  applied  it,  just  as  we  have 
seen  Him  use  the  teaching  of  the  Baptist  as  a  starting- 
point  for  His  own.  And  this  ought  to  be  observed,  that 
Jesus  revolutionized  the  world  by  methods  the  furthest 
from  being  revolutionary.  The  institutions  of  His  age 
and  land  were  corrupt  well-nigh  to  the  core,  but  He 
did  not  therefore  make  a  clean  sweep,  and  begin  again. 
He  did  not  turn  His  back  on  the  Temple  and  synagogues, 
nor  outrage  sabbaths,  nor  come  to  destroy  the  law  and 
the  prophets.  He  bade  His  followers  reverence  the 
seat  where  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  sat,  and  drew  the 
line  at  their  false  lives  and  perilous  examples.  Amid 
that  evil  generation  He  found  soil  wherein  His  seed 
might  germinate,  and  was  content  to  hide  His  leaven 
in  the  lump  where  it  should  gradually  work  out  its 
destiny.  In  so  doing  He  was  at  one  with  Providence, 
which  had  slowly  evolved  the  convictions  of  the  Old 
Testament,  spending  centuries  upon  the  process.  Now 
the     power    which     belongs    to    such    moderation    has 


GOSPEL   OF  ST.  MARK. 


scarcely  been  recognised  until  these  latter  days.  The 
political  sagacity  of  Soraers  and  Burke,  and  the  eccle- 
siastical wisdom  of  our  own  reformers,  had  their  occult 
and  unsuspected  fountains  in  the  method  by  which 
Jesus  planted  the  kingdom  which  came  not  with  obser- 
vation. But  who  taught  the  Carpenter  ?  It  is  there- 
fore significant  that  all  the  Gospels  of  the  Galilean 
ministry  connect  our  Lord's  early  teaching  with  tiie 
synagogue. 

St.  Mark  is  by  no  means  the  evangelist  of  the  dis- 
courses. And  this  adds  to  the  interest  with  which  we 
find  him  indicate,  with  precise  exactitude,  the  first 
great  difference  that  would  strike  the  hearers  of  Christ 
between  His  teaching  and  that  of  others.  He  taught 
with  authority,  and  not  as  the  scribes.  Their  doc- 
trine was  built  with  dreary  and  irrational  ingenuity, 
upon  perverted  views  of  the  old  law.  The  shape 
of  a  Hebrew  letter,  words  whereof  the  initals  would 
spell  some  important  name,  wire-drawn  inferences, 
astounding  allusions,  ingenuity  such  as  men  w^aste  now 
upon  the  number  of  the  beast  and  the  measurement  of 
a  pyramid,  these  were  the  doctrine  of  the  scribes. 

And  an  acute  observer  would  remark  that  the  authority 
of  Christ's  teaching  was  peculiar  in  a  farther-reaching 
sense.  If,  as  seems  clear,  Jesus  said,  "  Ye  have  heard 
that  it  hath  been  said "  (not  "  by,"  but)  "  to  them 
of  old  time,  but  I  say  unto  you,"  He  then  claimed  the 
place,  not  of  Moses  who  heard  the  Divine  Voice,  but  of 
Him  Who  spoke.  Even  if  this  could  be  doubted,  the 
same  spirit  is  elsewhere  unmistakable.  The  tables 
which  Moses  brought  were  inscribed  by  the  finger  of 
Another :  none  could  make  him  the  Supreme  arbitrator 
while  overhead  the  trumpet  waxed  louder  and  louder, 
while  the  fiery  pillar  marshalled  their  journeying,  while 


Mark  i.  21,  22.]      TEACHING    WITH  AUTHORITY.  23 

the  mysterious  Presence  consecrated  the  mysterious 
shrine.  Prophet  after  prophet  opened  and  closed  his 
message  with  the  words,  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord."  .  .  . 
"  For  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it."  Jesus 
was  content  with  the  attestation,  "  Verily,  I  say  unto 
you."  Blessed  as  a  wise  builder  was  the  hearer  and  doer 
of  "  these  words  of  Mine,"  Everywhere  in  His  teaching 
the  centre  of  authority  is  personal.  He  distinctly  recog- 
nises the  fact  that  He  is  adding  to  the  range  of  the 
ancient  law  of  respect  for  human  life,  and  for  purity, 
veracity  and  kindness.  But  He  assigns  no  authority 
for  these  additions,  beyond  His  own.  Persecution  by 
all  men  is  a  blessed  thing  to  endure,  if  it  be  for  His 
sake  and  the  gospel's.  Now  this  is  unique.  Moses 
or  Isaiah  never  dreamed  that  devotion  to  himself  took 
rank  with  devotion  to  his  message.  Nor  did  St.  Paul. 
But  Christ  opens  His  ministry  with  the  same  pretensions 
as  at  the  close,  when  others  may  not  be  called  Rabbi, 
nor  Master,  because  these  titles  belong  to  Him. 

And  the  lapse  of  ages  renders  this  "authority"  of 
Christ  more  wonderful  than  at  first.  The  world  bows 
down  before  something  other  than  His  clearness  of 
logic  or  subtlety  of  inference.  He  still  announces  where 
others  argue,  He  reveals,  imposes  on  us  His  supre- 
macy, bids  us  take  His  yoke  and  learn.  And  we  still 
discover  in  His  teaching  a  freshness  and  profundity, 
a  universal  reach  of  application  and  yet  an  unearthli- 
ness  of  aspect,  which  suit  so  unparalleled  a  claim. 
Others  have  constructed  cisterns  in  which  to  store 
truth,  or  aqueducts  to  convey  it  from  hig^her  levels, 
Christ  is  Himself  a  fountain;  and  not  only  so,  but  the 
water  which  He  gives,  when  received  aright,  becomes 
in  the  faithful  heart  a  well  of  water  springing  up  in 
new,  inexhaustible  developments. 


24  GOSPEL   OF  ST.    MARK. 


MIRACLES. 

"  And  straightway  there  was  in  their  synagogue  a  man  with  an  un- 
clean spirit." — Mark  i.  23  (R.V.)- 

We  have  just  read  that  Christ's  teaching  astonished 
the  hearers.  He  was  about  to  astonish  them  yet 
more,  for  we  have  now  reached  the  first  miracle  which 
St.  Mark  records.  With  what  sentiments  should  such 
a  narrative  be  approached  ?  The  evangelist  connects 
it  emphatically  with  Christ's  assertion  of  authority. 
Immediately  upon  the  impression  which  His  manner 
of  teaching  produced,  straightway,  there  was  in  the 
synagogue  a  man  with  an  unclean  spirit.  And  upon 
its  expulsion,  what  most  impressed  the  people  was, 
that  as  He  taught  with  authority,  so  "  with  authority 
He  commandeth  even  the  unclean  spirits,  and  they 
obey  Him." 

Let  us  try  whether  this  may  not  be  a  providential 
clue,  to  guide  us  amid  the  embarrassments  which 
beset,  in  our  day,  the  whole  subject  of  miracles. 

A  miracle,  we  are  told,  is  an  interference  with  the 
laws  of  nature  ;  and  it  is  impossible,  because  they  are 
fixed  and  their  operation  is  uniform.  But  these  bold 
words  need  not  disconcert  any  one  who  has  learned 
to  ask.  In  what  sense  are  the  operations  of  nature 
uniform  ?  Is  the  operation  of  the  laws  which  govern 
the  wind  uniform,  whether  my  helm  is  to  port  or  star- 
board ?  Can  I  not  modify  the  operation  of  sanitary 
laws  by  deodorization,  by  drainage,  by  a  thousand 
resources  of  civilization  ?  The  truth  is,  that  while 
natural  laws  remain  fixed,  human  intelligence  pro- 
foundly modifies  their  operation.  How  then  will  the 
objector  prove  that  no  higher  Being  can  as  natiiraliy 


Mark  i.  23.]  MIRACLES.  25 

do  the  same  ?  He  answers,  Because  the  sum  total 
of  the  forces  of  nature  is  a  fixed  quantity  :  nothing 
can  be  added  to  that  sum,  nothing  taken  from  it : 
the  energy  of  all  our  machinery  existed  ages  ago  in 
the  heat  of  tropical  suns,  then  in  vegetation,  and  ever 
since,  though  latent,  in  our  coal  beds ;  and  the  claim 
to  add  anything  to  that  total  is  subversive  of  modern 
science.  But  again  we  ask.  If  the  physician  adds 
nothing  to  the  sum  of  forces  when  he  banishes  one 
disease  by  inoculation,  and  another  by  draining  a 
marsh,  why  must  Jesus  have  added  to  the  sum  of 
forces  in  order  to  expel  a  demon  or  to  cool  a  fever  ? 
It  will  not  suffice  to  answer,  because  His  methods  are 
contrary  to  experience.  Bej'ond  experience  they  are. 
But  so  were  the  marvels  of  electricity  to  our  parents 
and  of  steam  to  theirs.  The  chemistry  which  analyses 
the  stars  is  not  incredible,  although  thirty  years  ago 
its  methods  were  "  contrary  "  to  the  universal  experi- 
ence of  humanity.  Man  is  now  doing  what  he  never 
did  before,  because  he  is  a  more  skilful  and  better 
informed  agent  than  he  ever  was.  Perhaps  at  this 
moment,  in  the  laboratory  of  some  unknown  student, 
some  new  force  is  preparing  to  amaze  the  world.  But 
the  sum  of  the  forces  of  nature  will  remain  unchanged. 
Why  is  it  assumed  that  a  miracle  must  change  them  ? 
Simply  because  men  have  already  denied  God,  or  at 
least  denied  that  He  is  pres:ent  within  His  world,  as 
truly  as  the  chemist  is  within  it.  If  we  think  of  Him 
as  interrupting  its  processes  from  wdthout,  laying  upon 
the  vast  machine  so  powerful  a  grasp  as  to  arrest  its 
v^-orking,  then  indeed  the  sum  of  forces  is  disturbed, 
and  the  complaints  of  science  are  justified.  This  may, 
or  it  may  not,  have  been  the  case  in  creative  epochs, 
of  which  science  knows  no  more  than  of  the  beginning 


26  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

of  life  and  of  consciousness.  But  it  has  nothing  to  say 
against  the  doctrine  of  the  miracles  of  Jesus.  For  this 
doctrine  assumes  that  God  is  ever  present  in  His  uni- 
verse;  that  by  Him  all  things  consist;  that  He  is  not 
far  from  any  one  of  us,  for  in  Him  we  live  and  move 
and  have  our  being,  although  men  may  be  as  uncon- 
scious of  Him  as  of  gravitation  and  electricity.  When 
these  became  known  to  man,  the  stability  of  law  was  un- 
affected. And  it  is  a  wild  assumption  that  if  a  supreme 
and  vital  force  exist,  a  living  God,  He  cannot  make  His 
energies  visible  without  affecting  the  stability  of  law. 

Now  Christ  Himself  appeals  expressly  and  repeatedly 
to  this  immanent  presence  of  God  as  the  explanation 
of  His  "  works." 

"  My  Father  worketh  hitherto,  and  I  work."  "  The 
Father  loveth  the  Son,  and  showeth  Him  all  things 
that  Himself  doeth."  "  I,  by  the  finger  of  God,  cast  out 
devils." 

Thus  a  miracle,  even  in  the  Old  Testament,  is  not 
an  interruption  of  law  by  God,  but  a  manifestation  of 
God  who  is  within  nature  always  ;  to  common  events 
it  is  as  the  lightning  to  the  cloud,  a  revelation  of  the 
electricity  which  was  already  there.  God  was  made 
known,  when  invoked  by  His  agents,  in  signs  from 
heaven,  in  fire  and  tempest,  in  drought  and  pestilence, 
a  God  who  judgeth.  These  are  the  miracles  of  God 
interposing  for  His  people  against  their  foes.  But  the 
miracles  of  Christ  are  those  of  God  carrying  forward 
to  the  uttermost  His  presence  in  the  world,  God  mani- 
fest in  the  flesh.  They  are  the  works  of  Him  in  Whom 
dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily. 

And  this  explains  what  would  otherwise  be  so  per- 
plexing, the  essentially  difterent  nature  of  His  miracles 
from  those  of  the  Old  Testament.      Infidelity  pretends 


Mark  i.  23.]  MIRACLES.  27 

that  those  are  the  models  on  which  m3'th  or  legend 
formed  the  miracles  of  Jesus,  but  the  plain  answer  is 
that  they  are  built  on  no  model  of  the  kind.  The 
difference  is  so  great  as  to  be  startling. 

Tremendous  convulsions  and  visitations  of  wrath  are 
now  unknown,  because  God  is  now  reconciling  the 
world  unto  Himself,  and  exhibiting  in  miracles  the  pre- 
sence of  Him  Who  is  not  far  from  every  one  of  us,  His 
presence  in  love  to  redeem  the  common  life  of  man,  and 
to  bless,  by  sharing  it.  Therefore  His  gifts  are  homely, 
they  deal  with  average  life  and  its  necessities,  bread 
and  wine  and  fish  are  more  to  the  purpose  than  that 
man  should  eat  angels'  food,  the  rescue  of  storm-tossed 
fishermen  than  the  engulfment  of  pursuing  armies,  the 
healing  of  prevalent  disease  than' the  plaguing  of  Egypt 
or  the  destruction  of  Sennacherib. 

Such  a  Presence  thus  manifested  is  the  consistent 
doctrine  of  the  Church.  It  is  a  theory  which  men  may 
reject  at  their  own  peril  if  they  please.  But  they  must 
not  pretend  to  refute  it  by  any  appeal  to  either  the 
uniformity  of  law  or  the  stability  of  force. 

Men  tell  us  that  the  divinity  of  Jesus  was  an  after- 
thought ;  what  shall  we  say  then  to  this  fact,  that  men 
observed  from  the  very  first  a  difterence  between  the 
manner  of  His  miracles  and  all  that  was  recorded  in 
their  Scriptures,  or  that  they  could  have  deemed  fit  ? 
It  is  exactly  the  same  peculiarity,  carried  to  the  highest 
pitch,  as  they  already  felt  in  His  discourses.  They  are 
wrought  without  any  reference  whatever  to  a  superior 
will.  Moses  cried  unto  the  Lord,  saying,  What  shall 
I  do  ?  Elijah  said.  Hear  me  O  Lord,  hear  me.  But 
Jesus  said,  I  will  ...  I  charge  thee  come  out  ...  I 
am  able  to  do  this.  And  so  marked  is  the  change,  that 
even   His  followers  cast  out  devils  in  His  name,  and 


28  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

say  not,  Where  is  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  ?  but,  In  the 
Name  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Nazareth.  His  power  is 
inherent,  it  is  self-possessed,  and  His  acts  in  the 
synoptics  are  only  explained  by  His  words  in  St.  John, 
"  What  things  soever  the  Father  doeth,  these  the  Son 
also  doeth  in  like  manner."  No  wonder  that  St.  Mark 
adds  to  His  very  first  record  of  a  miracle,  that  the 
people  were  amazed,  and  asked,  What  is  this  ?  a  new 
teaching !  with  authority  He  commandeth  even  the 
unclean  spirits  and  they  do  obey  Him  !  It  was 
divinity  which,  without  recognising,  they  felt,  implicit 
in  His  bearing.  No  wonder  also  that  His  enemies 
strove  hard  to  make  Him  say.  Who  gave  Thee  this 
authority  ?  Nor  could  they  succeed  in  drawing  from 
Him  any  sign  from  heaven.  The  centre  and  source 
of  the  supernatural,  for  human  apprehension,  has 
shifted  itself,  and  the  vision  of  Jesus  is  the  vision  of 
the  Father  also. 

THE  DEMONIAC. 

"  And  straightway  there  was  in  their  synagogue  a  man  with  an 
unclean  spirit  ;  and  he  cried  out,  saying,  What  have  we  to  do  with 
Thee,  Thou  Jesus  of  Nazareth?  art  Thou  come  to  destroy  us?  I 
know  Thee  Who  Thou  art,  the  Holy  One  of  God.  And  Jesus  rebuked 
him,  saying,  Hold  thy  peace,  and  come  out  of  him.  And  the  unclean 
spirit,  tearing  him  and  crying  with  a  loud  voice,  came  out  of  him.  And 
they  were  all  amazed,  insomuch  that  they  questioned  among  them- 
selves, saying.  What  is  this?  a  new  teaching  !  with  authority  He  com- 
mandeth even  the  unclean  spirits,  and  they  obey  Him.  And  the 
report  of  Him  went  out  straightway  everywhere  into  all  the  region  of 
Galilee  round  about." — Mark  i.  23-2S  (R.V.). 

We  have  seen  that  belief  in  the  stability  of  natural  law 
does  not  forbid  us  to  believe  in  miracles. 

Special  objections  are  urged,  however,  against  the 
belief  in  demoniacal  possession.     The  very  existence  ot 


Mark  i.  23-28.]  THE   DEMONIAC.  29 

demons  is  declared  to  be  inconsistent  with  the  omni- 
potence of  God,  or  else  with  His  goodness. 

And  it  may  be  granted  that  abstract  reasoning  in 
an  ideal  world,  thought  moving  in  a  vacuum,  would 
scarcely  evolve  a  state  of  things  so  far  removed  from 
the  ideal.  This,  however,  is  an  argument  against  the 
existence,  not  of  demons,  but  of  evil  in  any  shape.  It 
is  the  familiar  insoluble  problem  of  all  religions,  How 
can  evil  exist  in  the  universe  of  God  ?  And  it  is 
balanced  by  the  insoluble  problem  of  all  irreligious 
systems  :  In  a  universe  without  God,  how  can  either 
good  or  evil  exist,  as  distinguished  from  the  advan- 
tageous and  the  unprofitable?  Whence  comes  the  un- 
questionable difference  between  a  lie  and  a  bad  bargain? 

But  the  argument  against  evil  spirits  professes  to  be 
something  more  than  a  disguised  reproduction  of  this 
abstract  problem.  What  more  is  it  ?  What  is  gained 
by  denying  the  fiends,  as  long  as  we  cannot  deny  the 
fiends  incarnate — the  men  who  take  pleasure  in  im- 
righteousness,  in  the  seduction  and  ruin  of  their 
fellows,  in  the  infliction  of  torture  and  outrage,  in  the 
ravage  and  desolation  of  nations  ?  Such  freedom  has 
been  granted  to  the  human  will,  for  even  these 
ghastly  issues  have  not  been  judged  so  deadly  as 
coercion  and  moral  fatalism.  What  presumption  can 
possibly  remain  against  the  existence  of  other  beings 
than  men,  who  have  fallen  j^et  farther  ?  If,  indeed, 
it  be  certainly  so  much  farther.  For  we  know  that 
men  have  lived,  not  outcasts  from  society,  but  boastful 
sons  of  Abraham,  who  willed  to  perform  the  lusts 
(ra?  eVt^f/^ta?)  of  their  father  the  devil.  Now  since  we 
are  not  told  that  the  wickedness  of  demons  is  infinite,* 

*  The  opposite  is  asserted  by  the  fact  that  one  demon  may  ally 
himself  with  seven  others  worse. 


30  GOSPEL    OF  ST.  MARK. 

but  only  that  it  is  abysmal,  and  since  we  know  that 
abysses  of  wickedness  do  actually  exist,  what  sort  of 
vindication  of  Deity  is  this  which  will  believe  that 
such  gulfs  are  yawning"  only  in  the  bosom  of  man  ? 

It  alarms  and  shocks  us  to  think  that  evil  spirits 
have  power  over  the  human  mind,  and  still  more  that 
such  power  should  extend,  as  in  cases  of  possession, 
even  to  the  body.  Evil  men,  however,  manifestly  wield 
such  power.  "  They  got  rid  of  the  wicked  one,"  said 
Goethe,  "  but  they  could  not  get  rid  of  the  wicked  ones." 
Social  and  intellectual  charm,  high  rank,  the  mysterious 
attraction  of  a  strong  individuality,  all  are  employed 
at  times  to  mislead  and  debase  the  shuddering,  reluc- 
tant, mesmerised  wills  of  weaker  men  and  women.  And 
then  the  mind  acts  upon  the  body,  as  perhaps  it  always 
does.  Drunkenness  and  debauchery  shake  the  nerves. 
Paralysis  and  lunacy  tread  hard  on  the  footsteps  of 
excess.  Experience  knows  no  reason  for  denying  that 
when  wickedness  conquers  the  soul  it  will  also  deal 
hardly  with  the  body. 

But  we  must  not  stop  here.  For  the  Gospels  do  not 
countenance  the  popular  notion  that  special  wickedness 
was  the  cause  of  the  fearful  wretchedness  of  the  pos- 
sessed. Young  children  suffered.  Jesus  often  cautioned 
a  sufferer  to  sin  no  more  lest  worse  results  should  follow 
than  those  He  had  removed ;  but  He  is  never  known  to 
have  addressed  this  warning  to  demoniacs.  They  suffered 
from  the  tyranny  of  Satan,  rather  than  from  his  seduc- 
tion ;  and  the  analogies  which  make  credible  so  frightful 
an  outrage  upon  human  nature,  are  the  wrongs  done 
by  despots  and  mobs,  by  invading  armies  and  persecut- 
ing religionists.  Yet  people  who  cannot  believe  that 
a  demon  could  throw  a  child  upon  the  fire,  are  not 
incredulous  of  Attila,  Napoleon,  and  the  Inquisition. 


Marki.  23-2S.]  THE   DEMONIAC.  31 

Thus  it  appears  that  such  a  narrative  need  startle 
no  behever  in  God,  and  in  moral  good  and  evil,  who 
considers  the  unquestionable  facts  of  life.  And  how 
often  will  the  observant  Christian  be  startled  at  the 
wild  insurrection  and  surging  up  of  evil  thought  and 
dark  suggestions,  which  he  cannot  believe  to  be  his  own, 
which  will  not  be  gainsaid  nor  repulsed.  How  easily 
do  such  experiences  fall  in  with  the  plain  words  of  Scrip- 
ture, by  which  the  veil  is  drawn  aside,  and  the  mystery 
of  the  spiritual  world  laid  bare.  Then  we  learn  that 
man  is  not  only  fallen  but  assaulted,  not  only  feeble  but 
enslaved,  not  only  a  wandering  sheep  but  led  captive 
by  the  devil  at  his  will. 

We  turn  to  the  narrative  before  us.  They  are  still 
wondering  at  our  Lord's  authoritative  manner,  when 
"  straightway,"  for  opportunities  were  countless  until 
unbelief  arose,  a  man  with  an  unclean  spirit  attracts 
attention.  We  can  only  conjecture  the  special  meaning 
of  this  description.  A  recent  commentator  assumes 
that  "  like  the  rest,  he  had  his  dwelling  among  the 
tombs :  an  overpowering  influence  had  driven  him 
away  from  the  haunts  of  men."  (Canon  Luckock,  in 
loco).  To  others  this  feature  in  the  wretchedness  of  the 
Gadarene  may  perhaps  seem  rather  to  be  exceptional, 
the  last  touch  in  the  appalling  picture  of  his  misery. 
It  may  be  that  nothing  more  outrageous  than  morbid 
gloom  or  sullen  mutterings  had  hitherto  made  it  neces- 
sary to  exclude  this  sufferer  from  the  synagogue.  Or 
the  language  may  suggest  that  he  rushed  abruptly  in, 
driven  by  the  frantic  hostility  of  the  fiend,  or  impelled 
by  some  mysterious  and  lingering  hope,  as  the  de- 
moniac of  Gadara  ran  to  Christ. 

What  we  know  is  that  the  sacred  Presence  provoked 
a   crisis.     There   is    an   unbelief  which   never   can    be 


GOSPEL    OF  Sr.    MARK. 


silent,  never  wearies  railing  at  the  faith,  and  there  is  a 
corruption  which  resents  goodness  and  hates  it  as  a 
personal  wrong.  So  the  demons  who  possessed  men 
were  never  able  to  confront  Jesus  calmly.  They 
resent  His  interference  ;  they  cry  out  ;  they  disclaim 
having  anything  to  do  with  Him  ;  they  seem  indignant 
that  He  should  come  to  destroy  them  wdio  have 
destroyed  so  many.  There  is  something  weird  and 
unearthly  in  the  complaint.  But  men  also  are  wont  to 
forget  their  wrong  doing  when  they  come  to  suffer,  and 
it  is  recorded  that  even  Nero  had  abundance  of  com- 
passion for  himself.  Weird  also  and  terrible  is  it,  that 
this  unclean  spirit  should  choose  for  his  confession  that 
pure  and  exquisite  epithet,  the  Holy  One  of  God.  The 
phrase  only  recurs  in  the  words  of  St.  Peter,  "  We  have 
believed  and  know  that  Thou  art  the  Holy  One  of 
God "  (John  vi.  69,  R.  V.).  Was  it  not  a  mournful 
association  of  ideas  which  then  led  Jesus  to  reply, 
"  Have  I  not  chosen  you  the  Twelve,  and  one  of  you  is 
a  devil  ?*  "  But  although  the  phrase  is  beautiful,  and 
possibly  "wild  with  all  regret,"  there  is  no  relenting, 
no  better  desire  than  to  be  "  let  alone."  And  so  Jesus, 
so  gentle  with  sinful  men,  yet  sometime  to  be  their 
judge  also,  is  stern  and  cold.  "  Hold  thy  peace — be 
muzzled,"  He  answers,  as  to  a  wild  beast,  "  and  come 
out  of  him."  Whereupon  the  evil  spirit  exhibits  at 
once  his  ferocity  and  his  defeat.  Tearing  and  scream- 
ing, he  came  out,  but  we  read  in  St.  Luke  that  he  did 
the  man  no  harm. 

And  the  spectators  drew  the  proper  inference.  A 
new  power  implied  a  new  revelation.     Something  far- 

*  The  connection  would  he  ahnost  certain  if  the  word  "devil"'  were 
alike  in  both.  But  in  all  these  narratives  it  is  "  denaon,"  there  being  in 
Scripture  but  one  devil. 


Mai-lci.  23-2S.]  THE   DEMONIAC.  33 

reaching  and  profound  might  be  expected  from  Him 
who  commanded  even  the  unclean  spirits  with  authorit}', 
and  was  obeyed. 

It  is  the  custom  of  unbelievers  to  speak  as  if  the  air 
of  Palestine  were  then  surcharged  with  belief  in  the 
supernatural.  Miracles  were  everywhere.  Thus  they 
would  explain  away  the  significance  of  the  popular  belief 
that  our  Lord  wrought  signs  and  wonders.  But  in  so 
doing  they  set  themselves  a  worse  problem  than  they 
evade.  If  miracles  were  so  very  common,  it  would  be 
as  etisy  to  believe  that  Jesus  wrought  them  as  that  He 
worked  at  His  father's  bench.  But  also  it  would  be  as 
inconclusive.  And  how  then  are  we  to  explain  the 
astonishment  which  all  the  evangelists  so  constantly 
record  ?  On  any  conceivable  theory,  these  writers 
shared  the  beliefs  of  that  age.  And  so  did  the  readers 
who  accepted  their  assurance  that  all  were  amazed,  and 
that  His  report  "  went  out  straightway  everywhere  into 
all  the  region  of  Galilee."  These  are  emphatic  words, 
and  both  the  author  and  his  readers  must  have  con- 
sidered a  miracle  to  be  more  surprising  than  modern 
critics  believe  they  did. 

Yet  we  do  not  read  that  any  one  was  converted  by 
this  miracle.  All  were  amazed,  but  wonder  is  not  selt"- 
surrender.  They  were  content  to  let  their  excitement 
die  out,  as  every  violent  emotion  must,  without  any 
change  of  life,  any  permanent  devotion  to  the  new 
Teacher  and  tlis  doctrine. 


34  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


A    GROUP   OF  MIRACLES. 

"  And  straightway,  when  the)'  were  come  out  of  the  s3'nagogue,  they 
came  into  the  iiouse  of  Simon  and  Andrew,  witli  James  and  John. 
Now  Simon's  wife's  mother  lay  sick  of  a  fever  ;  and  straightway  they  tell 
Him  of  her :  and  He  came  and  took  her  by  the  hand,  and  raised  her 
up  ;  and  the  fever  left  her,  and  she  ministered  unto  them.  And  at 
even,  when  the  sun  did  set,  they  brought  unto  Him  all  that  were 
sick,  and  them  that  were  jaossessed  with  devils.  And  all  the  city  was 
gathered  together  at  the  door.  And  He  healed  many  that  were  sick 
with  divers  diseases,  and  cast  out  many  devils  ;  and  He  suffered  not 
the  devils  to  speak,  because  they  knew  Him." — Mark  i.  29-34  (R.V.). 

St.  Matthew  tells  us  that  on  leaving  the  synagogue 
they  entered  into  Peter's  house.  St.  Mark,  with  his 
peculiar  sources  of  information,  is  aware  that  Andrew 
shared  the  house  with  his  brother. 

Especial  interest  attaches  to  the  mention  of  the 
mother-in-law  of  Peter,  as  proving  that  Jesus  chose  a 
married  man  to  be  an  apostle,  the  very  apostle  from 
whom  the  celibate  ministry  of  Rome  professes  to  have 
received  the  keys.  The  evidence  does  not  stand  alone. 
When  St.  Paul's  apostolic  authority  was  impugned,  he 
insisted  that  he  had  the  same  right  to  bring  with  him 
in  his  travels  a  believing  wife,  which  Peter  exercised. 
And  Clement  of  Alexandria  tells  us  that  Peter's  wife 
acted  as  his  coadjutor,  ministering  to  women  in  their 
own  homes,  by  which  means  the  gospel  of  Christ 
penetrated  without  scandal  the  privacy  of  women's 
apartments.  Thus  the  notion  of  a  Zenana  mission  is 
by  no  means  modern. 

The  mother  of  such  a  wife  is  afflicted  by  fever  of  a 
kind  which  still  haunts  that  district.  "  And  they  tell 
Him  of  her."  Doubtless  there  was  solicitude  and  hope 
in  th.eir  voices,  even  if  desire  did  not  take  the  shape  of 
formal  prayer.     We  are  just  emerging  from  that  early 


Mark  i.  29-34-  ^    GROUP   OF  MIRACLES.  35 

period  when  belief  in  His  power  to  heal  might  still  be 
united  with  some  doubt  whether  free  application  might 
be  made  to  Him.  His  disciples  might  still  be  as 
unwise  as  those  modern  theologians  who  are  so  busy 
studying  the  miracles  as  a  sign  that  they  forget  to 
think  of  them  as  works  of  love.  Any  such  hesitation 
was  now  to  be  dispelled  for  ever. 

It  is  possible  that  such  is  the  meaning  of  the  ex- 
pression, and  if  so,  it  has  a  useful  lesson.  Soraetmies 
there  are  temporal  gifts  which  we  scarce  know  whether 
we  should  pray  for,  so  complex  are  our  feelings,  so  en- 
tangled our  interests  with  those  of  others,  so  obscure 
and  dubious  the  springs  which  move  our  desire.  Is  it 
presumptuous  to  ask  ?  Yet  can  it  be  right  to  keep 
anything  back,   in  our  communion   with  our  Father  ? 

Now  there  is  a  curious  similarit}^  between  the  ex- 
pression "they  tell  Jesus  of  her"  and  that  phrase 
which  is  only  applied  to  prayer  when  St.  Paul  bids  us 
pray  for  all  that  is  in  our  hearts.  "  In  nothing  be 
anxious,  but  in  everythmg  by  prayer  and  supplication 
with  thanksgiving  let  your  requests  be  made  known 
unto  God."  So  shall  the  great  benediction  be  fulfilled: 
"  The  peace  of  God  which  passeth  all  understand- 
ing, shall  guard  your  hearts  and  your  thoughts " 
(Phil.  iv.  6,  7).  All  that  is  unholy  sh?llbe  purified,  all 
that  is  unwise  subdued,  all  that  is  expedient  granted. 

If  this  be  indeed  the  force  of  St.  Mark's  phrase,  Jesus 
felt  their  modest  reticence  to  be  a  strong  appeal,  for 
St.  Luke  says  "they  besought  Him,"  while  St.  Matthew 
merely  writes  that  Pie  saw  her  lying.  The  "  Inter- 
preter of  St.  Peter"  is  most  likely  to  have  caught  the 
exact  shade  of  anxiety  and  appeal  by  which  her  friends 
drew  His  attention,  and  which  was  indeed  a  pra3'er. 

The  gentle  courtesy  of  our  Lord's  healings  cannot  be 


36  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

too  much  studied  by  those  who  would  know  His  mind 
and  love  Him.  Never  does  He  fling  a  careless  blessing 
as  coarse  benefactors  fling  their  alms  ;  we  shall  here- 
after see  how  far  He  was  from  leaving  fallen  bread  to 
be  snatched  as  by  a  dog,  even  by  one  who  would  have 
welcomed  a  boon  thus  contemptuously  given  to  her  ; 
and  in  the  hour  of  His  arrest,  when  He  would  heal 
the  ear  of  a  persecutor,  His  courtesy  appeals  to  those 
who  had  laid  hold  on  Him,  "Suffer  ye  thus  far."  Thus 
He  went  to  this  woman  and  took  her  by  the  hand  and 
raised  her  up,  laying  a  cool  touch  upon  her  fevered 
palm,  bestowing  His  strength  upon  her  weakness, 
healing  her  as  He  would  fain  heal  humanity.  For  at 
His  touch  the  disease  was  banished;  with  His  impulse 
her  strength  returned. 

We  do  not  read  that  she  felt  bound  thereupon  to 
become  an  obtrusive  public  witness  to  His  powers  :  that 
was  not  her  function  ;  but  in  her  quiet  home,  she  failed 
not  to  minister  unto  Him  who  had  restored  her  pov/ers. 
Would  that  all  whose  physical  powers  Jesus  renews 
from  sickness,  might  devote  their  energies  to  Him. 
Would  that  all  for  whom  He  has  calmed  the  fever  of 
earthly  passion,  might  arise  and  be  energetic  in  His 
cause. 

Think  of  the  wonder,  the  gladness  and  gratitude  of 
their  humble  feast.  But  if  we  felt  aright  the  sickness 
of  our  souls,  and  the  grace  which  heals  them,  equal 
gratitude  would  fill  our  lives  as  He  sups  with  us  and 
we  with  Him. 

Tidings  of  the  two  miracles  have  quickly  gone 
abroad,  and  as  the  sun  sets,  and  the  restraint  of  the 
sabbath  is  removed,  all  the  city  gathers  all  the  sick 
around  His  door. 

Now  here  is  a  curious  example  of  the  peril  of  press- 


Mark  i.  29-34-]  ^    GROUP   OF  MIRACLES.  37 

ing  too  eagerly  our  inferences  from  the  expressions  of 
an  evangelist.  St.  Mark  tells  us  that  they  brought 
"all  their  sick  and  them  that  were  possessed  with 
devils.  And  He  healed  "  (not  all,  but)  "  man}^  that  were 
sick,  and  cast  out  many  devils."  How  easily  we  might 
distinguish  between  the  "  all "  who  came,  and  the 
"many"  who  were  healed.  Want  of  faith  would 
explain  the  difference,  and  spiritual  analogies  would 
be  found  for  those  who  remained  unhealed  at  the  feet 
of  the  good  Physician.  These  lessons  might  be  very 
edifying,  but  they  would  be  out  of  place,  for  St. 
Matthew  tells  us  that  He  healed  them  all. 

But  who  can  fail  to  contrast  this  universal  movement, 
the  urgent  quest  of  bodily  health,  and  the  willingness 
of  friends  and  neighbours  to  convey  their  sick  to  Jesus, 
with  our  indifference  to  the  health  of  the  soul,  and  our 
neglect  to  lead  others  to  the  Saviour.  Disease  being 
the  cold  shadow  of  sin,  its  removal  was  a  kind  of 
sacrament,  an  outward  and  visible  sign  that  the  Healer 
of  souls  was  nigh.  But  the  chillness  of  the  shadow 
afflicts  us  more  than  the  pollution  of  the  substance, 
and  few  professing  Christians  lament  a  hot  temper  as 
sincerely  as  a  fever. 

As  Jesus  drove  out  the  demons,  He  suffered  them 
not  to  speak  because  they  knew  Him.  We  cannot 
believe  that  His  rejection  of  their  impure  testimony  was 
prudential  only,  whatever  possibility  there  may  have 
been  of  that  charge  of  complicity  which  was  afterwards 
actually  brought.  Any  help  which  might  have  come  to 
Him  from  the  lips  of  hell  was  shocking  and  revolting 
to  our  Lord.  And  this  is  a  lesson  for  all  religious  and 
political  partisans  who  stop  short  of  doing  evil  them- 
selves, but  reject  no  advantage  which  the  evil  deeds 
of  others  may  bestow.     Not  so  cold  and  negative  is  the 


38  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

morality  of  Jesus.  He  regards  as  contamination  what- 
ever help  fraud,  suppressions  of  truth,  injustice,  by 
whomsoever  wrought,  can  yield.  He  rejects  them  by 
an  instinct  of  abhorrence,  and  not  only  because  shame 
and  dishonour  have  always  befallen  the  purest  cause 
which  stooped  to  unholy  alliances. 

Jesus  that  day  showed  Himself  powerful  alike  in  the 
congregation,  in  the  home,  and  in  the  streets,  and  over 
evil  spirits  and  physical  disease  alike. 

JESUS  IN  SOLITUDE. 

"  And  in  the  morning,  a  gi-eat  while  before  day,  He  rose  up  and  went 
out,  and  departed  into  a  desert  place,  and  there  prayed.  And  Simon 
and  they  that  were  with  him  followed  after  Him  ;  and  they  found  Him, 
and  say  unto  Him,  All  are  seeking  Thee.  And  He  saith  unto  them, 
Let  us  go  elsewhere  into  the  next  towns,  that  I  may  preach  there  also  ; 
for  to  this  end  came  I  forth.  And  He  went  into  their  synagogues 
throughout  all  Galilee,  and  preaching  casting  out  devils." — Makk  i. 
35-39  (R.V.). 

St.  Mark  is  pre-eminently  the  historian  of  Christ's 
activities.  From  him  chiefly  we  learn  to  add  to 
our  thought  of  perfect  love  and  gentleness  that  of  One 
whom  the  zeal  of  God's  house  ate  up.  But  this 
evangelist  does  not  omit  to  tell  us  by  what  secret 
fountains  this  river  of  life  was  fed  ;  how  the  active 
labours  of  Jesus  were  inspired  in  secret  prayers.  Too 
often  we  allow  to  one  side  of  religion  a  development 
which  is  not  excessive,  but  disproportinate,  and  we  are 
punished  when  contemplation  becomes  nerveless,  or 
energy  burns  itself  away. 

After  feeding  the  five  thousand,  St.  Mark  tells  us 
that  Jesus,  while  the  storm  gathered  over  His  disciples 
on  the  lake,  went  up  into  a  mountain  to  pray.  And  St. 
Luke  tells  of  a  whole  night  of  prayer  before  choosing 


Mark i.  35-39-]  JESUS  IN  SOLITUDE.  39 


His  disciples,  and  how  it  was  to  pray  tliat  He  climbed 
the  mountain  of  transfiguration. 

And  we  read  of  Him  going  into  a  desert  place  with 
His  disciples,  and  to  Olivet,  and  oft-times  resorting 
to  tl:e  garden  where  Judas  found  Him,  where,  in  the 
dead  of  night,   the  traitor  naturally  sought  Him. 

Prayer  was  the  spring  of  all  His  energies,  and  His 
own  saying  indicated  the  habit  of  His  mortal  life  as 
truly  as  the  law  of  His  mysterious  generation  :  "  I  live 
by  the  Father." 

His  prayers  impress  nothing  on  us  more  powerfully 
than  the  reality  of  His  manhood.  He,  Who  possesses 
all  things,  bends  His  knees  to  crave,  and  His  prayers  are 
definite,  no  empty  form,  no  homage  without  sense  of 
need,  no  firing  of  blank  cartridge  without  an  aim.  He 
asks  that  His  disciples  may  be  with  Him  where  He  is, 
that  Simon's  strength  may  fail  not,  that  He  may  Him- 
self be  saved  from  a  dreadful  hour.  "  Such  touches  " 
said  Godet  "  do  not  look  like  an  artificial  apotheosis  of 
Jesus,  and  they  constitute  a  striking  difference  between 
the  gospel  portrait  and  the  legendary  caricature." 

The  entire  evening  had  been  passed  in  healing  the 
diseases  of  the  whole  town  ;  not  the  fight  and  careless 
bestowal  of  a  boon  which  cost  nothing,  but  wrought 
with  so  much  sympathy,  such  draining  of  His  own 
vital  forces,  that  St.  Matthew  found  in  it  a  fulfilment 
of  the  prophecy  that  He  should  Himself  bear  our 
sicknesses.  And  thus  exhausted,  the  frame  might 
l.ave  been  forgiven  for  demanding  some  indulgence, 
some  prolongation  of  repose. 

But  the  course  of  our  Lord's  ministry  was  now 
opening  up  before  Him,  and  the  hindrances  becoming 
visible.  How  much  was  to  be  hoped  from  the  great 
impression  already  made  ;  how  much  to  be  feared  from 


40  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

the  weakness  of  His  followers,  the  incipient  envy  of 
priest  and  Pharisee,  and  the  volatile  excitability  of  the 
crowd.  At  such  a  time,  to  relieve  His  burdened  heart 
with  Divine  communion  was  more  to  Jesus  than  repose, 
as,  at  another  time,  to  serve  Him  was  meat  to  eat. 
And  therefore,  in  the  still  fresh  morning,  long  before 
the  dawn,  while  every  eartlily  sight  was  dim  but  the 
abysses  of  heaven  were  vivid,  declaring  without  voice, 
amid  the  silence  of  earth's  discord,  the  glory  and  the 
handiwork  of  His  Father,  Jesus  went  into  a  solitary 
place  and  prayed. 

What  is  it  that  makes  solitude  and  darkness  dreadful 
to  some,  and  oppressive  to  very  many  ? 

Partly  the  sense  of  physical  danger,  born  of  help- 
lessness and  uncertainty.  This  He  never  felt,  who 
knew  that  He  must  walk  to-day  and  to-morrow,  and  on 
the  third  day  be  perfected.  And  partly  it  is  the  weight 
of  unwelcome  reflection,  the  searching  and  rebukes  of 
memory,  fears  that  come  of  guilt,  and  inward  dis- 
tractions of  a  nature  estranged  from  the  true  nature  of 
the  universe.  Jesus  was  agitated  by  no  inward  dis- 
cords, upbraided  by  no  remorse.  And  He  had  probably 
no  reveries ;  He  is  never  recorded  to  soliloquise ; 
solitude  to  Him  was  but  another  name  for  communion 
Vv'ith  God  His  Father;  He  was  never  alone,  for  God 
was  with  Him. 

This  retirement  enabled  Him  to  remain  undisturbed 
until  His  disciples  found  Him,  long  after  the  crowds 
had  besieged  their  dwelling.  They  had  not  yet  learned 
how  all  true  external  life  must  rest  upon  the  hidden  life 
of  devotion,  and  there  is  an  accent  of  regret  in  the 
words,  "  All  are  seeking  Thee,"  as  if  Jesus  could  neglect 
in  self-culture  any  true  opportunity  for  service. 

The  answer,  noteworthy  in  itself,  demands  especial 


Mark  i.  35-39-]  JESUS  IN  SOLITUDE.  41 

attention  in  these  times  of  missions,  demonstrations, 
Salvation  Armies,  and  other  wise  and  unwise  attempts 
to  gather  excited  crow'ds  around  the  cross. 

Mere  sensation  actually  repelled  Jesus.  Again  and 
again  He  charged  men  not  to  make  Him  known,  in  places 
where  He  would  stay;  while  in  Gadara,  which  He  had  to 
leave,  His  command  to  the  demoniac  was  the  reverse. 
Deep  and  real  convictions  are  not  of  kin  with  sight- 
seeing and  the  pursuit  of  wonders.  Capernaum  has 
now  heard  His  message,  has  received  its  full  share  of 
physical  blessing,  is  exalted  unto  heaven.  Those  who 
Vi^ere  looking  for  redemption  knew  the  gospel,  and 
Jesus  must  preach  it  in  other  towns  also.  Therefore, 
and  not  to  be  the  centre  of  admiring  multitudes,  came 
He  forth  from  His  quiet  home. 

Such  is  the  sane  and  tranquil  action  of  Jesus,  in  face 
of  the  excitement  caused  by  His  many  miracles.  Now 
the  miracles  themselves,  and  all  that  depends  on  them, 
are  declared  to  be  the  creation  of  the  wildest  fanaticism, 
either  during  His  lifetime  or  developing  His  legend 
afterwards.  And  if  so,  we  have  here,  in  the  action  of 
human  mind,  the  marvel  of  modern  physicists,  ice 
from  a  red-hot  retort,  absolute  moderation  from  a  dream 
of  frenzy.  And  this  paradox  is  created  in  the  act  of 
"  explaining  "  the  miracles.  The  explanation,  even 
were  it  sustained  by  any  evidence,  would  be  as  difficult 
as  any  miracle  to  believe. 


42  GOSPEL   OF  ST.  MARK. 


THE   LEFER. 

"  And  there  cometh  to  Him  a  leper,  beseeching  Flim,  and  kneeling 
down  to  Him,  and  saying  unto  Him,  If  Thou  wilt,  Thou  canst  make 
me  clean.  And  being  moved  with  compassion,  He  stretched  forth  His 
hand,  and  touched  him,  and  saith  unto  him,  I  will ;  be  thou  made 
clean.  And  straightway  the  leprosy  departed  from  him,  and  he  was 
made  clean.  And  He  strictly  charged  him,  and  straightway  sent  him 
out,  and  saith  unto  him.  See  thou  say  nothing  to  any  man  :  but  go 
thy  way,  show  thyself  to  the  priest,  and  offer  for  thy  cleansing  the 
things  which  Moses  commanded,  for  a  testimony  unto  them.  But  he 
went  out,  and  began  to  publish  it  much,  and  to  spread  abroad  the  matter, 
insomuch  that  Jesus  could  no  more  openly  enter  into  a  city,  but  was 
without  in  desert  places  :  and  they  came  to  Him  from  every  quarter." — 
Mark  i.  40-45  (R.  V.). 

The  disease  of  leprosy  was  peculiarly  fearful  to  a  Jew, 
In  its  stealthy  beginning,  its  irresistible  advance, 
the  utter  ruin  which  it  wrought  from  the  blood  out- 
ward until  the  flesh  was  corroded  and  fell  away,  it 
was  a  fit  type  of  sin,  at  first  so  trivial  in  its  indica- 
tions, but  gradually  usurping  all  the  nature  and 
corrupting  it.  And  the  terrible  fact,  that  the  children 
of  its  victims  were  also  doomed,  reminded  the  Israelite 
of  the  transmission  of  the  taint  of  Adam. 

The  story  of  Naaman  and  that  of  Gehazi  make  it 
almost  certain  that  the  leprosy  of  Scripture  was  not 
contagious,  for  they  were  intimate  with  kings.  But, 
apparently  to  complete  the  type,  the  law  gave  to  it 
the  artificial  contagion  of  ceremonial  uncleanness,  and 
banished  the  unhappy  sufferer  from  the  dwellings  of 
men.  Thus  he  came  to  be  regarded  as  under  an  especial 
ban,  and  the  prophecy  which  announced  that  the 
illustrious  Man  of  Sorrows  would  be  esteemed  "  stricken 
of  God,"  was  taken  to  mean  that  lie  should  be  a  leper. 
This  banishment  of   the  leper    was  indeed  a  remark- 


Marki.  40-45-]  THE   LEPER. 


43 


able  exception  to  the  humanity  of  the  ancient  law, 
but  when  his  distress  began  to  be  extreme,  and  "the 
plague  was  turned  into  white,"  he  was  released  from 
his  uncleanness  (Lev.  xiii.  17).  And  this  may  teach 
us  that  sin  is  to  be  dreaded  most  while  it  is  yet 
insidious ;  when  developed  it  gives  a  sufficient  warning 
against  itself.  And  now  such  a  sufferer  appeals  to 
Jesus.  The  incident  is  one  of  the  most  pathetic  in  the 
Gospel ;  and  its  graphic  details,  and  the  shining  cha- 
racter which  it  reveals,  make  it  very  perplexing  to 
moderate  and  thoughtful  sceptics. 

Those  who  believe  that  the  charm  of  His  presence 
was  "worth  all  the  resources  of  medicine,"  agree  that 
Christ  may  have  cured  even  leprosy,  and  insist  that 
this  story,  as  told  by  St.  Mark,  "  must  be  genuine." 
Others  suppose  that  the  leper  was  already  cured,  and 
Jesus  only  urged  him  to  fulfil  the  requirements  of  the 
law.  And  why  not  deny  the  story  boldly  ?  Why 
linger  so  longingly  over  the  details,  when  credence  is 
refused  to  what  is  plainly  the  mainspring  of  the  whole, 
the  miraculous  power  of  Jesus  ?  The  answer  is  plain. 
Honest  minds  feel  the  touch  of  a  great  nature ;  the 
misery  of  the  suppliant  and  the  compassion  of  his 
Restorer  are  so  vivid  as  to  prove  themselves ;  no 
dreamer  of  a  myth,  no  process  of  legend-building,  ever 
wrought  after  this  fashion.  But  then,  the  misery  and 
compassion  being  granted,  the  whole  story  is  practically 
conceded.  It  only  remains  to  ask,  whether  the  "  pre- 
sence of  the  Saintly  Man "  could  work  a  chemical 
change  in  tainted  blood.  For  it  must  be  insisted  that 
the  man  was  "  full  of  leprosy,"  and  not,  as  one  sug- 
gests, already  far  advanced  towards  cure.  The  contrast 
between  his  running  and  kneeling  at  the  very  feet 
of   Jesus,  and  the  conduct  of  the  ten  lepers,  not  yet 


44  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

released  from  their  exclusion,  who  stood  afar  off  while 
they  cried  out  (Luke  xvii.  12),  is  sufficient  evidence 
of  this,  even  if  the  express  statement  of  St.  Luke 
were  not  decisive. 

Repulsive,  and  until  now  despairing,  only  tolerated 
among  men  through  the  completeness  of  his  plague, 
this  man  pushes  through  the  crowd  which  shrinks  from 
him,  kneels  in  an  agony  of  supplication,  and  says  "  If 
Thou  wilt,  Thou  canst  make  me  clean."  If  Thou  wilt ! 
The  cruelty  of  man  has  taught  hira  to  doubt  the  heart, 
even  though  satisfied  of  the  power  of  Jesus.  In  a  few 
years,  men  came  to  assume  the  love,  and  exult  in  the 
reflection  that  He  was  "  able  to  keep  what  '  was'  com- 
mitted to  Him,"  "  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly 
above  all  that  we  ask  or  think."  It  did  not  occur  to 
St.  Paul  that  any  mention  of  His  will  was  needed. 

Nor  did  Jesus  Himself  ask  a  later  suppliant,  "  Be- 
lievest  thou  that  I  am  willing,"  but  "  Believest  thou 
that  I  am  able  to  do  this  ?  " 

But  the  charm  of  this  delightful  incident  is  the 
manner  in  which  our  Lord  grants  the  impassioned 
prayer.  We  might  have  expected  a  shudder,  a  natural 
recoil  from  the  loathsome  spectacle,  and  then  a 
wonder-working  word.  But  misery  which  He  could 
.relieve  did  not  repel  Jesus;  it  attracted  Him.  His 
impulse  was  to  approach.  He  not  only  answered  "  I 
will," — and  deep  is  the  will  to  remove  all  anguish  in  the 
wonderful  heart  of  Jesus, — but  He  stretched  forth  an 
unshrinking  hand,  and  touched  that  death  in  life.  It 
is  a  parable  of  all  His  course,  this  laying  of  a  clean 
hand  on  the  sin  of  the  world  to  cleanse  it.  At  His 
touch,  how  was  the  morbid  frame  thrilled  with  delight- 
ful pulses  of  suddenly  renovated  health.  And  how 
was   the  despairing,  joyless  heart,  incredulous  of  any 


Mark  i.  40-45-]  ^-^^-^   LEPER.  45 

real  will  to  help  him,  soothed  and  healed  by  the  pure 
delight  of  being  loved. 

This  is  the  true  lesson  of  the  narrative.  St.  Mark 
treats  the  miraculous  cure  much  more  lightly  than  the 
tender  compassion  and  the  swift  movement  to  relieve 
suffering.  And  He  is  right.  The  warm  and  generous 
nature  revealed  by  this  fine  narrative  is  what,  as  we  have 
seen,  most  impresses  the  doubter,  and  ought  most  to 
comfort  the  Church.  For  He  is  the  same  yesterday  and 
to-day.  And  perhaps,  if  the  divinity  of  love  impressed 
men  as  much  as  that  of  power,  there  would  be  less 
denial  of  the  true  Godhead  of  our  Lord. 

The  touch  of  a  leper  made  a  Jew  unclean.  And 
there  is  a  surprising  theory,  that  when  Jesus  could  no 
more  openly  enter  into  a  city,  it  was  because  the  leper 
had  disobediently  published  what  implied  His  cere- 
monial defilement.  As  if  our  Lord  were  one  to  violate 
the  law  by  stealth. 

But  is  it  very  remarkable  that  Christ,  Who  was  born 
under  the  law,  never  betrayed  any  anxiety  about  clean- 
ness. The  law  of  impurity  was  in  fact  an  expression 
of  human  frailty.  Sin  spreads  corruption  far  more 
easily  than  virtue  diffuses  purity.  The  touch  of  good- 
ness fails  to  reproduce  goodness.  And  the  prophet 
Haggai  has  laid  stress  upon  this  contrast,  that  bread 
or  pottage  or  wine  or  oil  or  any  meat  will  not  become 
holy  at  the  touch  of  one  who  bears  holy  flesh  in  the  skirt 
of  his  garment,  but  if  one  that  is  unclean  by  a  dead 
body  touch  any  of  these,  it  shall  be  unclean  (ii.  12,  13). 
Our  hearts  know  full  well  how  true  to  nature  is  the 
ordinance. 

But  Christ  brought  among  us  a  virtue  more  con- 
tagious than  our  vices  are,  being  not  only  a  living  soul, 
but   a    life-imparting  Spirit.     And   thus    He    lays   His 


46  GOSPEL    OF  ST.  MARK. 

hand  upon  this  leper,  upon  the  bier  at  Nain,  upon  the 
corpse  of  the  daughter  of  Jairus,  and  as  fire  is 
kindled  at  the  touch  of  fire,  so  instead  of  pollution  to 
Him,  the  pureness  of  healthful  life  is  imparted  to  the 
'defiling  and  defiled. 

And  His  followers  also  are  to  possess  a  religion  that 
is  vitalizing,  to  be  the  light  of  the  world,  and  the  salt 
of  the  earth. 

If  we  are  thus  to  further  His  cause,  we  must  not 
only  be  zealous  but  obedient.  Jesus  strictly  charged 
the  leper  not  to  fan  the  flame  of  an  excitement  which 
already  impeded  His  work.  But  there  was  an  invalu- 
able service  which  he  might  render  :  the  formal  registra- 
tion of  his  cure,  the  securing  its  official  recognition  by 
the  priests,  and  their  consent  to  offer  the  commanded 
sacrifices.  In  many  a  subsequent  controversy,  that 
"testimony  unto  them"  might  have  been  embarrassing 
indeed.  But  the  leper  lost  his  opportunity,  and  put 
them  upon  their  guard.  And  as  through  his  impulsive 
clamour  Jesus  could  no  more  openly  enter  into  a  city, 
but  even  in  desert  places  was  beset  by  excited  crowds, 
so  is  He  deprived  to-day  of  many  a  tranquil  ministra- 
tion and  lowly  service,  by  the  zeal  which  despises 
order  and  quiet  methods,  by  the  undisciplined  and 
ill-judged  demonstrations  of  men  and  women  whom  He 
has  blessed. 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE    SICK    OF    THE    PALSY, 

"And    when    He   entered  again   into  Capernaum  after   some   days, 
it  wai  noi.sed  that  He  was  in  the  house.'' — Mark  ii.   i  (R.V.).  J 

ESUS  returns  to  Capernaum,  and  an  eager  crowd 
blocks  even  the  approaches  to  the  house  where  He 
is  known  to  be.  St.  Mark,  as  we  should  expect, 
relates  the  course  of  events,  the  multitudes,  the  in- 
genious device  by  which  a  miracle  is  obtained,  the 
claim  which  Jesus  advances  to  yet  greater  authority 
than  heretofore,  and  the  impression  produced.  But 
St.  Luke  explains  that  there  Vv'ere  "  sitting  b}^" 
having  obtained  the  foremost  places  which  they  loved, 
Pharisees  and  doctors  of  the  law  from  every  village  of 
Galilee  and  Judaea,  and  from  Jerusalem  itself.  And 
this  concourse,  evidently  preconcerted  and  unfriendl}', 
explains  the  first  murmurs  of  opposition  recorded  by 
St.  Mark.  It  was  the  jealousy  of  rival  teachers  which 
so  readily  pronounced  Him  a  blasphemer. 

The  crowds  besieged  the  very  passages,  there  was  no 
room,  no,  not  around  the  door,  and  even  if  one  might 
struggle  forward,  four  men  bearing  a  litter  might  well 
despair.  But  with  palsied  paralysis  at  stake,  they 
would  not  be  repulsed.  They  gained  the  roof  by  an 
outer  staircase,  such  as  the  fugitives  from  Jerusalem 
should    hereafter   use,    not    going  through    the  house. 


48  GOSPEL   OF  ST.   MARK. 

Then  they  uncovered  and  broke  up  the  roof,  by  which 
strong  phrases  St.  Mark  means  that  they  first  hfted 
the  tiles  which  lay  in  a  bed  of  mortar  or  mud,  broke 
through  this,  and  then  tore  up  the  poles  and  light 
rafters  by  which  all  this  covering  was  supported. 
Then  they  lowered  the  sick  man  upon  his  pallet,  in 
front  of  the  Master  as  He  taught. 

It  was  an  unceremonious  act.  However  carefully 
performed,  the  audience  below  must  have  been  not  only 
disturbed  but  inconvenienced,  and  doubtless  among 
the  precise  and  unmerciful  personages  in  the  chief 
seats  there  was  many  an  angry  glance,  many  a  murmur, 
many  a  conjecture  of  rebukes  presently  to  be  inflicted 
on  the  intruders. 

But  Jesus  never  in  any  circumstances  rebuked  for 
intrusion  any  suppliant.  And  now  He  discerned  the 
central  spiritual  impulse  of  these  men,  which  was 
not  obtrusiveness  nor  disrespect.  They  believed  that 
neither  din  while  He  preached,  nor  rubbish  falling 
among  His  audience,  nor  the  stranre  interruption  of  a 
patient  and  a  litter  intruded  upon  His  discourse,  could 
weigh  as  much  with  Jesus  as  the  appeal  on  a  sick 
man's  face.  And  this  was  faith.  These  peasants  may 
have  been  far  enough  from  intellectual  discernment  of 
Christ's  Personality  and  the  scheme  of  salvation. 
They  had  hov;ever  a  strong  and  practical  conviction 
that  He  would  make  whole  their  palsied  friend. 

Nov/  the  preaching  of  faith  is  suspected  of  endanger- 
ing good  works.  But  was  this  persuasion  likely  to 
make  these  men  torpid  ?  Is  it  not  plain  that  all 
spiritual  apathy  comes  not  from  over-trust  but  from 
unbelief,  either  doubting  that  sin  is  present  death,  or 
else  that  holiness  is  life,  and  that  Jesus  has  a  gift  to 
bestow,  not  in  heaven,  but  promptly,  which  is  better  to 


Markii.  9]  THE   SICK  OF  THE   PALSY.  49 


gain  than  all  the  world  ?  Therefore  salvation  is  linked 
with  faith,  which  earns  nothing  but  elicits  all,  like  the 
touch  that  evokes  electricity,  but  which  no  man  sup- 
poses to  have  made  it. 

Because  they  knew  the  curse  of  palsy,  and  believed 
in  a  present  remedy,  these  men  broke  up  the  roof  to 
come  where  Jesus  was.  They  won  their  blessing,  but 
not  the  less  it  was  His  free  gift. 

Jesus  saw  and  rewarded  the  faith  of  all  the  group. 
The  principle  of  mutual  support  aud  co-operation  is 
the  basis  alike  of  the  family,  the  nation,  and  the 
Church.  Thus  the  great  Apostle  desired  obscure  and 
long-forgotten  men  and  women  to  help  together  with 
him  in  their  prayers.  And  He  who  visits  the  sins  of 
the  fathers  upon  the  children  unto  the  third  and  fourth 
generation,  shows  mercy  unto  many  more,  unto  thou- 
sands, in  them  that  love  Him.  What  a  rebuke  is  all 
this  to  men  who  think  it  enough  that  they  should  do  no 
harm,  and  live  inoffensive  lives.  Jesus  now  bestowed 
such  a  blessing  as  awoke  strange  misgivings  among 
the  b3'standers.  He  divined  the  true  burden  of  that 
afflicted  heart,  the  dreary  memories  and  worse  fears 
which  haunted  that  sick  bed, — and  how  many  are  even 
now  preparing  such  remorse  and  gloom  for  a  bed  of 
pain  hereafter  ! — and  perhaps  He  discerned  the  con- 
sciousness of  some  guilty  origin  of  the  disease.  Cer- 
tainly He  saw  there  one  whose  thoughts  went  beyond 
his  malady,  a  yearning  soul,  with  hope  glowing  like 
red  sparks  amid  the  ashes  of  his  self-reproach,  that  a 
teacher  so  gracious  as  men  reported  Jesus,  might  bring 
with  Him  a  gospel  indeed.  We  know  that  he  felt  thus, 
for  Jesus  made  him  of  good  cheer  by  pardon  rather 
than  by  healing,  and  spoke  of  the  cure  itself  as 
wrought  less  for  hio  sake  than  as  evidence. 

4 


50  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 


Surely  that  was  a  great  moment  when  the  wistful 
gaze  of  eyes  which  disease  had  dimmed,  met  the  eyes 
which  were  as  a  flame  of  fire,  and  knew  that  all  its 
sullied  past  was  at  once  comprehended  and  forgiven. 

Jesus  said  to  him,  "  Son,  thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee." 
The  term  of  endearment  was  new  to  his  lips,  and  very 
emphatic  ;  the  same  which  Mary  used  when  she  found 
Him  in  the  temple,  the  same  as  when  He  argued  that 
even  evil  men  give  good  gifts  unto  their  children. 
Such  a  relation  towards  Himself  He  recognised  in  this 
afflicted  penitent.  On  the  other  hand,  the  dry  argumen- 
tative temper  of  the  critics  is  well  expressed  by  the  short 
crackling  unemotional  utterances  of  their  orthodoxy : 
"  Why  doth  this  man  thus  speak  ?  He  blasphemeth. 
Who  can  forgive  sins  but  one,  God."  There  is  no  zeal 
in  it,  no  passion  for  God's  honour,  no  spiritual  insight, 
it  is  as  heartless  as  a  syllogism.  And  in  what  follows 
a  fine  contrast  is  implied  between  their  perplexed  ortho- 
doxy, and  Christ's  profound  discernment.  For  as  He 
had  just  read  the  sick  man's  heart,  so  He  "  perceived 
in  His  spirit  that  they  so  reasoned  within  themselves." 
And  He  asks  them  the  searching  question,  "  Whether 
is  easier  to  say,  Thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee,  or  to  say, 
Arise  and  walk  ?  "  Now  which  is  really  easier  ?  It  is 
not  enough  to  lay  all  the  emphasis  upon  "  to  sa}',"  as 
if  with  Jesus  the  ease  of  an  utterance  depended  on  the 
difficulty  of  testing  it.  There  is  indeed  a  certain  irony 
in  the  question.  They  doubtless  imagined  that  Jesus 
was  evading  their  scrutiny  by  only  bestowing  what 
they  could  not  test.  To  them  forgiveness  seemed  more 
easily  offered  than  a  cure.  To  the  Christian,  it  is  less 
to  heal  disease,  which  is  a  mere  consequence,  than  sin, 
which  is  the  source  of  all  our  woes.  To  the  power  of 
Jesus  they  were  alike,  and  connected  with  each  other 


Mark.ii.  9]  THE  SICK  OF   THE   PALSY.  51 

as  the  symptom  and  the  true  disease.  In  truth,  all  the 
compassion  which  blesses  our  daily  life  is  a  pledge  of 
grace  ;  and  He  Who  healeth  all  our  diseases  forgiveth 
also  all  our  iniquities.  But  since  healing  was  the 
severer  test  in  their  reckoning,  Jesus  does  not  evade  it. 
He  restores  the  palsied  man  to  health,  that  they  might 
know  that  the  Son  of  man  hath  authority  on  earth  to 
forgive  sins.  So  then,  pardon  does  not  lie  concealed  and 
doubtful  in  the  councils  of  an  unknown  world.  It  is  pro- 
nounced on  earth.  The  Son  of  man,  wearing  our  nature 
and  touched  with  our  infirmities,  bestows  it  still,  in  the 
Scriptures,  in  the  Sacraments,  in  the  ministrations  of 
His  servants.  Wherever  He  discerns  faith.  He  responds 
with  assurance  of  the  absolution  and  remission  of  sins. 

He  claims  to  do  this,  as  men  had  so  lately  observed 
that  He  both  taught  and  worked  miracles,  "with  author- 
ity." We  then  saw  that  this  word  expressed  the  direct 
and  personal  mastery  with  which  He  wrought,  and 
v.'hich  the  apostles  never  claimed  for  themselves. 

Therefore  this  text  cannot  be  quoted  in  defence  of 
priestly  absolutions,  as  long  as  these  are  hypothetical, 
and  depend  on  the  recipient's  earnestness,  or  on  any 
supposition,  any  uncertainty  whatever.  Christ  did  not 
utter  a  hypothesis. 

Fortunately,  too,  the  argument  that  men,  priestly 
men,  must  have  authority  on  earth  to  forgive  sins, 
because  the  Son  of  man  has  such  authorit}',  can  be 
brought  to  an  easy  test.  There  is  a  passage  elsewhere, 
which  asserts  His  authority,  and  upon  which  the  claim 
to  share  it  can  be  tried.  The  words  are,  "The  Father 
gave  Him  authority  to  execute  judgment,  because  He 
is  the  Son  of  man,"  and  they  are  immediately  followed 
by  an  announcement  of  the  resurrection  to  judgment 
(John  V.  27,  29).     Is  any  one  prepared  to  contend  that 


52  GOSPEL   OF  ST.   MARK, 

such  authority  as  that  is  vested  in  other  sons  of  men  ? 
And  if  not  that,  why  this  ? 

But  if  priestly  absolutions  are  not  here,  there  remains 
the  certainty  that  Jesus  brought  to  earth,  to  man,  the 
gift  of  prompt  effective  pardon,  to  be  realized  by  faith. 

The  sick  man  is  ordered  to  depart  at  once.  Further 
discourse  might  perhaps  be  reserved  for  others,  but 
he  may  not  linger,  having  received  his  own  bodily 
and  spiritual  medicine.  The  teaching  of  Christ  is  not 
for  curiosity.  It  is  good  for  the  greatly  blessed  to  be 
alone.  And  it  is  sometimes  dangerous  for  obscure 
people  to  be  thrust  into  the  centre  of  attention. 

Hereupon,  another  touch  of  nature  discovers  itself  in 
the  narrative,  for  it  is  now  easy  to  pass  through  the 
crowd.  Men  who  would  not  in  their  selfishness  give 
place  for  palsied  misery,  readily  make  room  for  the  distin- 
guished person  who  has  received  a  miraculous  blessing. 

THE   SON  OF  MAN. 
"  The  Son  of  man  hath  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins." — Mark  ii.  lo. 

When  asserting  His  power  to  forgive  sins,  Jesus,  for  the 
first  time  in  our  Gospel,  called  Himself  the  Son  of  man. 
It  is  a  remarkable  phrase.  The  profound  reverence 
which  He  from  the  first  inspired,  restrained  all  other 
lips  from  using  it,  save  only  when  the  first  martyr  felt 
such  a  rush  of  S3nnpathy  from  above  poured  into  his 
soul,  that  the  thought  of  Christ's  humanity  was  more 
moving  than  that  of  His  deity.  So  too  it  is  then 
alone  that  He  is  said  to  be  not  enthroned  in  heaven, 
but  standing,  "the  Son  of  man,  standing  on  the  right 
hand  of  God  "  (Acts  vii.  56).* 

*  The  exce;5tions  in  the  Revelation  are  only  apparent.  St.  Jolin  does 
not  call  Jesus  the  Son  of  man  (i.  13),  nor  see  Hnn,  but  only  the  type  ol 
Ilim,  standing  (v.  6j. 


Maikii.  lo.]  THE  SON  OF  MAN.  53 


What  then  does  this  title  imply  ?  Beyond  doubt 
it  is  derived  from  Daniel's  vision  :  "  Behold  there  came 
with  the  clouds  of  heaven  one  like  unto  a  Son  of  man, 
and  He  came  even  to  the  Ancient  of  Days  "  (vii.  1 3). 
And  it  was  by  the  bold  and  unequivocal  appropriation 
of  this  verse  that  Jesus  brought  upon  Himself  the 
judgment  of  the  council  (Matt.  xxvi.  64 ;  Mark  xiv.  62). 

Now  the  first  impression  which  the  phrase  in  Daniel 
produces  is  that  of  strong  and  designed  contrast 
between  the  Son  of  man  and  the  Eternal  God.  We 
wonder  at  seeing  man  "  brought  nigh  "  to  Deity.  Nor 
may  we  suppose  that  to  be  "  like  unto  a  Son  of  man," 
implies  only  an  appearance  of  manhood.  In  Daniel  the 
Messiah  can  be  cut  off  When  Jesus  uses  the  epithet, 
and  even  when  He  quotes  the  prophecy,  He  not  only 
resembles  a  Son  of  man.  He  is  truly  such  ;  He  is  most 
frequently  ^^  the  Son  of  man,"  the  pre-eminent,  perhaps 
the  only  one.* 

But  while  the  expression  intimates  a  share  in  the 
lowliness  of  human  nature,  it  does  not  imply  a  lowly 
rank  among  men. 

Our  Lord  often  suggested  by  its  use  the  difference 
between  His  circumstances  and  His  dignity.  "The 
Son  of  man  hath  not  where  to  lay  His  head:" 
"  Betrayest  thou  the  Son  of  man  with  a  kiss,"  in  each 
of  these  we  feel  that  the  title  asserts  a  claim  to  different 
treatment.  And  in  the  great  verse,  God  "  hath  given 
Him  authority  to  execute  judgment,  because  He  is  the 
Son  of  man,"  we  discern  that  although  human  hands 
are  chosen  as  fittest  to  do  judgment  upon  humanity, 
yet  His  extraordinary  dignity  is  also  taken  into  account. 

*  And  this  proves  beyond  que-tion  that  He  did  not  merely  follow 
Ezekiel  in  applying  to  himself  the  epithet  as  if  it  meant  a  son  among 
many  sons  of  men,  but  took  the  description  in  Daniel  for  His  own. 
Ezekiel  himself  indeed  never  employs  the  phrase  :  he  only  records  it. 


54  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

The  title  belongs  to  our  Lord's  humiliation,  but  is  far 
from  an  additional  abasement  ;  it  asserts  His  supremacy 
over  those  whom  He  is  not  ashamed  to  call  brethren. 

We  all  are  sons  of  men  ;  and  Jesus  used  the  phrase 
when  He  promised  that  all  manner  of  sins  and  blas- 
phemies shall  be  forgiven  to  us.  But  there  is  a  higher 
sense  in  which,  among  thousands  of  the  ignoble,  we 
single  out  one  "real  man  ;"  and  in  this  sense,  as  fulfilling 
the  idea,  Jesus  was  the  Second  Man,  What  a  difference 
exists  between  the  loftiest  sons  of  vulgar  men,  and  the 
Son  of  our  complete  humanity,  of  the  race,  "  of  Man." 
The  pre-eminence  even  of  our  best  and  greatest  is 
fragmentary  and  incomplete.  In  their  veins  runs  but  a 
portion  of  the  rich  life-blood  of  the  race  :  but  a  share  of 
its  energy  throbs  in  the  greatest  bosom.  We  seldom 
find  the  typical  thinker  in  the  typical  man  of  action. 
Originality  of  purpose  and  of  means  are  not  commonly 
united.  To  know  all  that  holiness  embraces,  we  must 
combine  the  energies  of  one  saint  with  the  gentler  graces 
of  a  second  and  the  spiritual  insight  of  a  third.  There 
is  no  man  of  genius  who  fails  to  make  himself  the  child 
of  his  nation  and  his  age,  so  that  Shakespeare  would  be 
impossible  in  France,  Hugo  in  Germany,  Goethe  in  Eng- 
land. Two  great  nations  slay  their  kings  and  surrender 
their  liberties  to  military  dictators,  but  Napoleon  would 
have  been  unendurable  to  us,  and  Cromwell  ridiculous 
across  the  channel. 

Large  allowances  a;r£,.te  be  made  for  the  Greek  in 
Plato,  the  Roman  in'Epicfetus,  before  we  can  learn  of 
them.  Each  and  all  are  the  sons  of  their  tribe  and 
century,  not  of  all  mankind  and  all  time.  But  who 
will  point  out  the  Jewish  warp  in  any  word  or  institu- 
tion of  Jesus?  In  the  new  man  which  is  after  His 
image  there  cannot  be  Greek  and  Jew,  circumcision  and 


Mark  ii.  lo.]  THE  SON  OF  MAN.  JS 


uncircumcision,  barbarian,  Scythian,  bondman,  free- 
man, but  Christ  is  all  and  in  all,  something  of  Him 
represented  by  each,  all  of  them  concentrated  in  Him. 
He  alone  speaks  to  all  men  without  any  foreign  accent, 
and  He  alone  is  recognised  and  understood  as  widely 
as  the  voices  of  nature,  as  the  sigh  of  waves  and  breezes, 
and  the  still  endurance  of  the  stars.  Reading  the 
Gospels,  we  become  aware  that  four  writers  of  widely 
different  bias  and  temperament  have  all  found  an  equally 
congenial  subject,  so  that  each  has  given  a  portrait 
harmonious  with  the  others,  and  yet  unique.  It  is 
because  the  sum  total  of  humanity  is  in  Christ,  that  no 
single  writer  could  have  told  His  story. 

But  now  consider  what  this  implies.  It  demands  an 
example  from  which  lonely  women  and  heroic  leaders 
of  action  should  alike  take  fire.  It  demands  that  He 
should  furnish  meditation  for  sages  in  the  closet,  and 
should  found  a  kingdom  more  brilliant  than  those  of 
conquerors.  It  demands  that  He  should  strike  out  new 
paths  towards  new  objects,  and  be  supremely  original 
without  deviating  from  what  is  truly  sane  and  human, 
for  any  selfish  or  cruel  or  unwholesome  joy.  It  demands 
the  gentleness  of  a  sheep  before  her  shearers,  and  such 
burning  wrath  as  seven  times  over  denounced  against 
the  hypocrites  of  Jerusalem  woe  and  the  damnation  of 
hell.  It  demands  the  sensibilities  which  made  Gethse-. 
mane  dreadful,  and  the  strength  which  made  Calvary 
sublime.  It  demands  that  when  we  approach  Him  we 
should  learn  to  feel  the  awe  of  other  worlds,  the  near- 
ness of  God,  the  sinfulness  of  sin,  the  folly  of  laying  up 
much  goods  for  many  years ;  that  life  should  be  made 
solemn  and  profound,  but  yet  that  it  should  not  be 
darkened  nor  depressed  unduly  ;  that  nature  and  man 
should  be  miade  dear  to  us,  little  children,  and   sinners 


56  GOSPEL    OF  ST.  MARK. 

who  are  scorned  yet  who  love  much,  and  lepers  who 
stand  afar  off — yes,  and  even  the  lilies  of  the  field,  and 
the  fowls  of  the  air;  that  He  should  not  be  unaware  of 
the  silent  processes  of  nature  which  bears  fruit  of  itself, 
of  sunshine  and  rain,  and  the  fury  of  storms  and 
torrents,  and  the  leap  of  the  lightning  across  all  the 
sky.  Thus  we  can  bring  to  Jesus  every  anxiety  and 
every  hope,  for  He,  and  only  He,  was  tempted  in  all 
points  like  unto  us.  Universality  of  power,  of  sym- 
pathy, and  of  influence,  is  the  import  of  this  title 
which  Jesus  claims.  And  that  demand  Jesus  only  has 
satisfied.  Who  is  the  Master  of  Sages,  the  Friend  of 
sinners,  the  Man  of  Sorrows,  and  the  King  of  kings, 
the  one  perfect  blossom  on  the  tree  of  our  humanity, 
the  ideal  of  our  nature  incarnate,  the  Second  Adam 
in  Whom  the  fulness  of  the  race  is  visible.  The 
Second  Man  is  the  Lord  from  Heaven.  And  this 
strange  and  solitary  grandeur  He  foretold,  when  He 
took  to  Himself  this  title,  itself  equally  strange  and 
solitary,  the  Son  of  man. 

THE    CALL   AND   FEAST  OF  LEVI. 

'•And  He  went  forth  Pgain  by  the  sea  side  ;  and  all  tlie  multitude 
resorted  unto  Him,  and  He  taught  them.  And  as  He  passed  by,  He 
saw  Levi  the  son  of  Alphseus  sitting  at  the  place  of  toll,  and  He  saith 
unto  him,  Follow  Me.  And  he  arose  and  followed  Flim.  And  it  came 
to  pass,  that  He  was  sitting  at  meat  in  his  house,  and  many  publicans 
and  sinners  sat  down  with  Jesus  and  His  disciples:  for  there  were 
many,  and  they  followed  Him.  And  the  scribes  of  the  Pharisees, 
when  they  saw  that  He  was  eating  witli  the  sinners  and  publicans. 
Slid  unto  His  disciples,  He  eateth  and  drinketh  with  publicans  and 
sinners.  And  when  Jesus  heai'd  it,  He  saith  unto  them,  They  that  are 
whole  have  no  need  of  a  physician,  but  they  that  are  sick  :  I  came  not 
to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners." — Mark  ii.  13-17  (R.V.). 

Jesus  loved  the  open  air.  His  custom  when  teaching 
was  to  point  to  the  sower,  the  lily,  and  the  bird.      He 


Markii.  I3-I7-]      THE    CALL   AND   FEAST  OF  LEVI.  57 

is  no  pale  recluse  emerging  from  a  librar}'  to  instruct, 
in  tlie  dim  religious  light  of  cloisters,  a  world  unknown 
except  by  books.  Accordingly  we  find  Him  "again 
by  the  sea-side."  And  however  the  scribes  and 
Pharisees  may  have  continued  to  murmur,  the  multi- 
tudes resorted  to  Him,  confiding  in  the  evidence  of 
their  experience,  which  never  saw  it  on  this  fashion. 

That  argument  was  perfectly  logical ;  it  was  an  in- 
duction, yet  it  led  them  to  a  result  curiously  the  reverse 
of  theirs  wdio  reject  miracles  for  being  contrary  to  expe- 
rience. "  Yes,"  they  said,  "  we  appeal  to  experience, 
but  the  conclusion  is  that  good  deeds  which  it  cannot 
parallel  must  come  directly  from  the  Giver  of  all  good." 

Such  good  deeds  continue.  The  creed  of  Christ  has 
re-formed  Europe,  it  is  awakening  Asia,  it  has  trans- 
formed morality,  and  imposed  new  virtues  on  the  con- 
science. It  is  the  one  religion  for  the  masses,  the 
lapsed,  and  indeed  for  the  sick  in  body  as  truly  as  in 
soul  ;  for  while  science  discourses  with  enthusiasm 
upon  progress  by  the  rejection  of  the  less  fit,  our  faith 
cherishes  these  in  hospitals,  asylums,  and  retreats,  and 
prospers  by  lavishing  care  upon  the  outcast  and  re- 
jected of  the  world.  Now  this  transcends  experience  : 
we  never  saw  it  on  this  fashion  ;  it  is  supernatural. 
Or  else  let  scientific  atheism  produce  its  reformed 
magdalens,  and  its  homes  for  the  hopelessly  diseased 
and  imbecile,  and  all  "  the  weakest  "  who  go,  as  she 
tenderly  assures  us,   "  to  the  wall." 

Jesus  now  gave  a  signal  proof  of  His  independence 
of  human  judgment,  His  care  for  the  despised  and  re- 
jected. For  such  a  one  He  completed  the  rupture 
between' Himself  and  the  rulers  of  the  people. 

Sitting  at  the  receipt  of  toll,  in  the  act  of  levying 
from  his  own  nation  the  dues  of  the  conqueror,  Levi 


58  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

the  publican  received  the  call  to  become  an  Apostle 
and  Evangelist.  It  was  a  resolute  defiance  of  the 
Pharisaic  judgment.  It  was  a  iremorable  rebuke  for 
those  timid  slaves  of  expedienc}-  who  nurse  their  in- 
fluence, refuse  to  give  offence,  fear  to  "mar  their  use- 
fulness "by  "compromising  themselves,"  and  so  make 
their  whole  life  one  abject  compromise,  and  let  all 
emphatic  usefulness  go  by. 

Here  is  one  upon  whom  the  bigot  scowls  more  darkly 
still  than  upon  Jesus  Himself,  by  whom  the  Roman 
yoke  is  pressed  upon  Hebrew  necks,  an  apostate  in 
men's  judgment  from  the  national  faith  and  hope.  And 
such  judgments  sadly  verify  themselves ;  a  despised 
man  easily  becomes  despicable. 

But  however  Levi  came  by  so  strange  and  hateful  an 
office,  Jesus  saw  in  him  no  slavish  earner  of  vile  bread 
by  doing  the  foreigner's  hateful  work.  He  was  more 
willing  than  they  who  scorned  him  to  follow  the  true 
King  of  Israel.  It  is  even  possible  that  the  national 
humiliations  to  which  his  very  office  testified  led  him 
to  other  aspirations,  longings  after  a  spiritual  kingdom 
beyond  reach  of  the  sword  or  the  exactions  of  Rome. 
For  his  Gospel  is  full  of  the  true  kingdom  of  heaven, 
the  spiritual  fulfilments  of  prophecy,  and  the  relations 
between  the  Old  Testament  and  the  Messiah. 

Here  then  is  an  opportunity  to  show  the  sneering 
scribe  and  carping  Pharisee  how  little  their  cynical 
criticism  weighs  with  Jesus.  He  calls  the  despised 
agent  of  the  heathen  to  His  side,  and  is  obeyed.  And 
now  the  name  of  the  publican  is  engraven  upon  one  of 
the  foundations  of  the  city  of  God. 

Nor  did  Jesus  refuse  to  carry  such  condescension  to 

its  utmost  limit,   eating  and  drinking  in   Levi's  house 

.  with   many   publicans  and  sinners,  who  were  already 


Markii.  I3-I7-]      THE    CALL    AND   FEAST  OF  LEVL.  59 

attracted  by  His  teaching,  and  now  rejoiced  in  His 
familiarity.  Just  in  proportion  as  He  offended  tiie 
pharisaic  scribes,  so  did  He  inspire  with  new  hope  the 
unhappy  classes  who  were  taught  to  consider  them- 
selves castaway.  His  very  presence  was  medicinal,  a 
rebuke  to  foul  words  and  thoughts,  an  outward  and 
visible  sign  of  grace.  It  brought  pure  air  and  sunshine 
into  a  fever-stricken  chamber. 

And  this  was  His  justification  when  assailed.  He 
had  borne  healing  to  the  sick.  He  had  called  sinners 
to  repentance.  And  therefore  His  example  has  a 
double  message.  It  rebukes  those  who  look  curiously 
on  the  intercourse  of  religious  people  with  the  world, 
who  are  plainly  of  opinion  that  the  leaven  should 
be  hid  anywhere  but  in  the  meal,  who  can  never 
fairly  understand  St.  Paul's  permission  to  go  to  an 
idolater's  feast.  But  it  gives  no  licence  to  go  where 
we  cannot  be  a  healing  influence,  where  the  light 
must  be  kept  in  a  dark  lantern  if  not  under  a  bushel, 
where,  instead  of  drawing  men  upward,  we  shall  only 
confirm  their  indolent  self-satisfaction. 

Christ's  reason  for  seeking  out  the  sick,  the  lost,  is 
ominous  indeed  for  the  self-satisfied.  The  whole  have 
no  need  of  a  physician ;  He  came  not  to  call  the 
righteous.  Such  persons,  whatever  else  they  be,  are 
not  Christians  until  they  come  to  a  different  mind. 

In  calling  Himself  the  Ph^^sician  of  sick  souls,  Jesus 
made  a  startling  claim,  which  becomes  more  emphatic 
when  we  observe  that  He  also  quoted  the  words  of 
Hosea,  "  I  will  have  mercy  and  not  sacrifice "  (Matt. 
ix.  13  ;  Hos.  vi.  6).  For  this  expression  occurs  in  that 
chapter  which  tells  how  the  Lord  Himself  hath  smitten 
and  will  bind  us  up.  And  the  complaint  is  just  before  it 
that  when  Ephraim  saw  his  sickness   and  Judah  saw 


6o  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK 

his  wound,  then  went  Ephraim  to  Assyria  and  sent  to 
king  Jareb,  but  he  is  not  able  to  heal  you,  neither  shall 
he  cure  you  of  your  wound  (Hos.  v.  13-vi.  i).  As 
the  Lord  Himself  hath  torn,  so  He  must  heal. 

Now  Jesus  comes  to  that  part  of  Israel  which  the 
Pharisees  despise  foi-  being  wounded  and  diseased,  and 
justifies  Himself  by  words  which  must,  from  their 
context,  have  reminded  every  Jew  of  the  declaration 
that  God  is  the  physician,  and  it  is  vain  to  seek  healing 
elsewhere.  And  immediately  afterwards,  He  claims 
to  be  the  Bridegroom,  whom  also  Hosea  spoke  of  as 
divine.  Yet  men  profess  that  only  in  St.  John  does 
He  advance  such  claims  that  we  should  ask.  Whom 
makest  Thou  Thyself?  Let  them  try  the  experiment, 
then,  of  putting  such  words  into  the  lips  of  any  mortal. 

The  choice  of  the  apostles,  and  most  of  all  that  of 
Levi,  illustrates  the  power  of  the  cross  to  elevate 
obscure  and  commonplace  lives.  He  was  born,  to  all 
appearance,  to  an  uneventful,  unobserved  existence. 
We  read  no  remarkable  action  of  the  Apostle  Matthew ; 
as  an  Evangelist  he  is  simple,  orderly  and  accurate,  as 
becomes  a  man  of  business,  but  the  graphic  energy  of 
St.  Mark,  the  pathos  of  St.  Luke,  the  profundity  of 
St.  John  are  absent.  Yet  his  greatness  will  outlive  the 
world. 

Now  as  Christ  provided  nobility  and  a  career  for 
this  man  of  the  people,  so  He  does  for  all.  "Are  all 
apostles  ?  "  Nay,  but  all  may  become  pillars  in  tlie 
temple  of  eternity.  The  gospel  finds  men  plunged  in 
monotony,  in  the  routine  of  callings  which  macliinery 
and  the  subdivision  of  labour  make  ever  more  colour- 
less, spiritless,  and  dull.  It  is  a  small  thing  that 
it  introduces  them  to  a  literature  more  subhme  than 
Milton,  more  sincere  and  direct  than  Shakespere.     It 


Maikii.iS.]     CONTROVERSY  CONCERNING  FASTING.       6i 


brings  their  little  lives  into  relationship  with  eternity. 
It  braces  them  for  a  vast  struggle,  watched  by  a 
great  cloud  of  witnesses.  It  gives  meaning  and  beauty 
to  the  sordid  present,  and  to  the  future  a  hope  full 
of  immortality.  It  brings  the  Christ  of  God  nearer 
to  the  humblest  than  when  of  old  He  ate  and  drank 
with  pubhcans  and  sinners. 

THE    CONTROVERSY    CONCERNING    FASTING. 

"  And  John's  disciples  and  the  Pliarisees  were  fasting  :  and  they  come 
and  say  unto  Him,  Why  do  John's  disciples  and  the  disciples  of  the 
Pharisees  fast,  but  Thy  disciples  fast  not?"— Mark  ii.  i8  (R.V.). 

The  Pharisees  had  just  complained  to  the  disciples  that 
Jesus  ate  and  drank  in  questionable  company.  Now 
they  join  with  the  followers  of  the  ascetic  Baptist  in 
complaining  to  Jesus  that  His  disciples  eat  and  drink 
at  improper  seasons,  when  others  fast.  And  as  Jesus 
had  then  replied,  that  being  a  Physician,  He  was 
naturally  found  among  the  sick,  so  He  now  answered, 
•  that  being  the  Bridegroom,  fasting  in  His  presence  is 
impossible  :  "  Can  the  sons  of  the  bridechamber  fast 
while  the  Bridegroom  is  with  them  ?  "  A  new  spirit  is 
working  in  Christianity,  far  too  mightily  to  be  restrained 
by  ancient  usages  ;  if  the  new  wine  be  put  into  such 
wineskins  it  will  spoil  them,  and  itself  be  lost. 

Hereupon  three  remarkable  subjects  call  for  attention  : 
the  immense  personal  claim  advanced  ;  the  view  which 
Christ  takes  of  fasting  ;  and,  arising  out  of  this,  the 
principle  which  He  applies  to  all  external  rites  and 
ceremonies. 

I.  Jesus  does  not  inquire  whether  the  fasts  of  other 
men  were  unreasonable  or  not.  In  any  case,  He  de- 
clares that  His  mere  presence  put  everything  on  a  new 
footing  for  His  followers    who  could  not  fast    simply 


62  GOSPEL   OF  ST.    MARK. 

because  He  was  by.  Thus  He  assumes  a  function  high 
above  that  of  any  prophet  or  teacher  :  He  not  only 
reveals  duty,  as  a  lamp  casts  light  upon  the  compass 
by  which  men  steer ;  but  He  modifies  duty  itself,  as 
iron  deflects  the  needle. 

This  is  because  He  is  the  Bridegroom. 

The  disciples  of  John  would  hereupon  recall  his 
words  of  self-effacement ;  that  He  was  only  the  friend 
of  the  Bridegroom,  whose  fullest  joy  was  to  hear  the 
Bridegroom's  exultant  voice. 

But  no  Jew  could  forget  the  Old  Testament  use  of 
the  phrase.  It  is  clear  from  St.  Matthew  that  this 
controversy  followed  immediately  upon  the  last,  when 
Jesus  assumed  a  function  ascribed  to  God  Himself  by 
the  very  passage  from  Hosea  which  He  then  quoted. 
Then  He  was  the  Physician  for  the  soul's  diseases ; 
now  He  is  the  Bridegroom,  in  Whom  centre  its  hopes,  its 
joys,  its  affections,  its  new  life.  That  position  in  the 
spiritual  existence  cannot  be  given  away  from  God 
without  idolatry.  The  same  Hosea  who  makes  God  the 
Healer,  gives  to  Him  also,  in  the  most  explicit  words, 
what  Jesus  now  claims  for  Himself.  "  I  will  betroth 
thee  unto  Me  for  ever  ...  I  will  even  betroth  thee 
unto  Me  in  faithfulness,  and  thou  shalt  know  the  Lord  " 
(ii.  19,  20).  Isaiah  too  declares  "thy  Maker  is  thy 
husband,"  and  "  as  the  bridegroom  rejoiceth  over  the 
bride,  so  shall  thy  God  rejoice  over  thee"  (liv.  5  J  Ixii- 
5).  And  in  Jeremiah,  God  remembers  the  love  of 
Israel's  espousals,  who  went  after  Him  in  the  wilderness, 
in  a  land  that  was  not  sown  (ii.  2).  Now  all  this  is 
transferred  throughout  the  New  Testament  to  Jesus. 
The  Baptist  is  not  alone  in  this  respect.  St.  John  re- 
gards the  Bride  as  the  wife  of  the  Lamb  (Rev.  xxi.  9). 
St.  Paul  would  fain  present  his  Corinthian  Church  as 


Markii.  iS.]      CONTROVERSY  CONCERNING  FASTING.      63 

a  pure  virgin  to  Christ,  as  to  one  husband  (2  Cor. 
xi.  2).  For  him,  the  absolute  oneness  of  marriage  is  a 
mystery  of  the  union  betwixt  Christ  and  His  Churcli 
(Eph.  V.  32).  If  Jesus  be  not  God,  then  a  relation 
hitherto  exclusively  belonging  to  Jehovah,  to  rob  Him 
of  which  is  the  adultery  of  the  soul,  has  been  systema- 
tically transferred  by  the  New  Testament  to  a  creature. 
His  glory  has  been  given  to  another. 

This  remarkable  change  is  clearly  the  work  of  Jesus 
Himself.  The  marriage  supper  of  which  He  spoke  is 
for  the  King's  son.  At  His  return  the  cry  will  be  heard, 
Behold  the  Bridegroom  cometh.  In  this  earliest 
passage  His  presence  causes  the  joy  of  the  Bride, 
who  said  to  the  Lord  in  the  Old  Testament,  Thou  art 
my  Husband  (Hosea  ii.  16). 

There  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  John 
a  passage  more  certainly  calculated  to  inspire,  when 
Christ's  dignity  was  assured  by  His  resurrection  and 
ascension,  the  adoration  which  His  Church  has  always 
paid  to  the  Lamb  in  the  midst  of  the  throne. 

n.  The  presence  of  the  Bridegroom  dispenses  with 
the  obligation  to  fast.  Yet  it  is  beyond  denial  that 
fasting  as  a  religious  exercise  comes  within  the  circle  of 
New  Testament  sanctions.  Jesus  Himself,  when  taking 
our  burdens  upon  Him,  as  He  had  stooped  to  the 
baptism  of  repentance,  condescended  also  to  fast.  He 
taught  His  disciples  when  they  fasted  to  anoint  their 
head  and  wash  their  face.  The  mention  of  fasting 
is  indeed  a  later  addition  to  the  words  "  this  kind  (of 
demon)  goeth  not  out  but  by  prayer"  (Mark  ix.  29), 
but  we  know  that  the  prophets  and  teachers  of  Antioch 
were  fasting  when  bidden  to  consecrate  Barnabas  and 
Saul,  and  they  fasted  again  and  prayed  before  they 
laid  their  hands  upon  them  (Acts  xiii.  2,  3). 


64  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

Thus  it  is  right  to  fast,  at  times  and  from  one  point 
of  view  ;  but  at  other  times,  and  from  Jewish  and  formal 
motives,  it  is  unnatural  and  mischievous.  It  is  right 
when  the  Bridegroom  is  taken  away,  a  phrase  which 
certainly  does  not  cover  all  this  space  between  the 
Ascension  and  the  Second  Advent,  since  Jesus  still 
reveals  Himself  to  His  own  though  not  unto  the  Vv^orld, 
and  is  with  His  Church  ah  the  days.  Scripture  has 
no  countenance  for  the  notion  that  we  lost  by  the 
Ascension  in  privilege  or  joy.  But  when  the  body 
would  fain  rise  up  against  the  spirit,  it  must  be  kept 
under  and  brought  into  subjection  (i  Cor.  ix.  27). 
When  the  closest  domestic  joys  would  interrupt  the 
seclusion  of  the  soul  with  God,  they  may  be  suspended, 
though  but  for  a  time  (i  Cor.  vii.  5).  And  when  the 
supreme  blessing  of  intercourse  with  God,  the  presence 
of  the  Bridegroom,  is  obscured  or  forfeited  through  sin, 
it  will  then  be  as  inevitable  that  the  loyal  heart  should 
turn  away  from  worldly  pleasures,  as  that  the  first 
disciples  should  reject  these  in  the  dread  hours  of  their 
bereavement. 

Thus  Jesus  abolished  the  superstition  that  grace  may 
be  had  by  a  mechanical  observance  of  a  prescribed 
regimen  at  an  appointed  time.  He  did  not  deny,  but 
rather  implied  the  truth,  that  body  and  soul  act  and 
counteract  so  that  spiritual  impressions  may  be  weakened 
and  forfeited  by  untimely  indulgence  of  the  flesh. 

By  such  teaching,  Jesus  carried  forward  the  doctrine 
already  known  to  the  Old  Testament.  There  it  was 
distinctly  announced  that  the  return  from  exile  abrogated 
those  fasts  Nvhich  commemorated  national  calamities, 
so  that  "the  fast  of  the  fourth  month,  and  of  the  fifth, 
and  of  the  seventh  and  of  the  tenth  shall  be  to  the 
house  of  Israel  joy  and  gladness,  cheerful  feasts  "  (Zech. 


Maikii.  iS.]     CONTROVERSY  CONCERNING  FASTING.       65 

vii.  3,  viii.  19).  Even  while  these  fasts  had  lasted  they 
had  been  futile,  because  they  were  only  formal.  "  When 
ye  fasted  and  mourned,  did  ye  at  all  fast  unto  rae  ?  And 
when  ye  eat,  and  when  ye  drink,  do  ye  not  eat  for  your- 
selves, and  drink  for  yourselves?"  (Zech.  vii.  5,  6).  And 
Isaiah  had  plainly  laid  down  the  great  rule,  that  a  fast 
and  an  acceptable  day  unto  tiie  Lord  was  not  a  day  to 
afflict  the  soul  and  bow  the  head,  but  to  deny  and 
discipline  our  selfishness  for  some  good  end,  to  iJoose 
the  bonds  of  wickedness,  to  undo  the  bands  of  !,he  yoke, 
and  to  let  the  oppressed  go  free,  to  deal  bread  to  the 
hungry,  and  to  bring  home  the  poor  that  is  cast  out 
(Isa.  Iviii.  5-7). 

The  true  spirit  of  fasting  breathes  an  ampler  breath 
in  any  of  the  thousand  forms  of  Christian  self-denial, 
than  in  those  petty  abstinences,  those  microscopic 
observances,  which  move  our  wonder  less  by  the  super- 
stition which  expects  them  to  bring  grace  than  by  the 
childishness  which  expects  them  to  have  any  effect 
whatever, 

III.  Jesus  now  applies  a  great  principle  to  all 
external  rites  and  ceremonies.  They  have  their  value. 
As  the  wineskin  retains  the  wine,  so  are  feelings  and  as- 
pirations aided,  and  even  preserved,  by  suitable  external 
forms.  Without  these,  emotion  would  lose  itself  for 
want  of  restraint,  wasted,  like  spilt  wine,  by  diffuse- 
ness.  And  if  the  forms  are  unsuitable  and  outworn, 
the  same  calamity  happens,  the  strong  new  feelings 
break  through  them,  "  and  the  wine  perisheth,  and  the 
skins."  In  this  respect,  how  many  a  sad  experience  of 
the  Church  attests  the  wisdom  of  her  Lord  ;  what  losses 
have  been  suffered  in  the  struggle  between  forms  that 
had  stiffened  into  archaic  ceremonialism  and  new  zeal 
demanding  scope  for  its  energy,  between  the  aritiquated 

5 


66  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

phrases  of  a  bygone  age  and  the  new  experience,  know- 
ledge and  lequirements  of  the  next,  between  the  frosty 
precisions  of  unsympathetic  age  and  the  innocent 
warmth  and  freshness  of  the  young,  too  often,  alas, 
lost  to  their  Master  in  passionate  revolt  against  re- 
straints which  He  neither  imposed  nor  smiled  upon. 

Therefore  the  coming  of  a  new  revelation  meant  the 
repeal  of  old  observances,  and  Christ  refused  to  sew 
His  new  faith  like  a  patchwork  upon  ancient  institu- 
tions, of  which  it  would  only  complete  the  ruin.  Thus 
He  anticipated  the  decision  of  His  apostles  releasing 
the  Gentiles  from  the  law  of  Moses.  And  He  bestowed 
on  His  Church  an  adaptiveness  to  various  times  and 
places,  not  always  remembered  by  missionaries  among 
the  heathen,  by  fastidious  critics  of  new  movements  at 
home,  nor  by  men  who  would  reduce  the  lawfulness 
of  modern  agencies  to  a  question  of  precedent  and 
archaeology. 

THE  SABBATH. 

"And  it  came  to  pass,  that  He  was  going  on  the  sabbath  day  through 
the  cornfields  ;  ana  Lis  disciples  began,  as  they  went,  to  pluck  the  ears 
of  corn.  And  the  Pi  arisees  said  unto  Him,  Behold,  why  do  they  on 
the  sabbath  day  that  which  is  not  lawful  ?  And  He  said  unto  them, 
Did  ye  never  read  what  David  did,  when  he  had  need,  and  was  an 
hungred,  he,  and  they  that  were  with  him?  How  he  entered  into  the 
house  of  God  when  Abiathar  was  high  priest,  and  did  eat  the  shew- 
bread,  which  it  is  not  lawful  to  eat  save  for  the  priests,  and  gave  also 
to  them  that  were  with  him?  And  He  said  unto  them,  The  sabbath 
was  made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the  sabbath  :  so  that  the  Son  of 
man  is  Lord  even  of  the  sabbath." — Mark  ii.  23-2S  (R.V.). 

Twice  in  succession  Christ  had  now  asserted  the  free- 
dom of  the  soul  against  His  Jewish  antagonists.  He 
was  free  to  eat  with  sinner?,  for  their  gccd,  and  His 
followers    were    free    to    disregard    fasts,    u  cause    the 


Mark ii.  23-28.]  THE  SABBATH.  67 

Bridegroom  was  with  them.  A  third  attack  in  the 
same  series  is  prepared.  The  Pharisees  now  take 
stronger  ground,  since  the  law  itself  enforced  the 
obligation  of  the  Sabbath.  Even  Isaiah,  the  most 
free-spirited  of  all  the  prophets,  in  the  same  passage 
where  he  denounced  the  fasts  of  the  self-righteous, 
bade  men  to  keep  their  foot  from  the  Sabbath  (Isa. 
Iviii.  13,  14).  Here  they  felt  sure  of  their  position  ;  and 
when  they  found  the  disciples,  in  a  cornfield  where  the 
long  stems  had  closed  over  the  path,  "  making  a  way," 
which  was  surely  forbidden  labour,  and  this  by 
"  plucking  the  ears,"  which  was  reaping,  and  then 
rubbing  these  in  their  hands  to  reject  the  chaff,  which 
was  winnowing,  they  cried  out  in  affected  horror. 
Behold,  why  do  they  that  which  is  not  lawful  ?  To 
them  it  mattered  nothing  that  the  disciples  really 
hungered,  and  that  abstinence,  rather  than  the  slight 
exertion  which  they  condemned^  would  cause  real  in- 
convenience and  unrest. 

Perhaps  the  answer  of  our  Lord  has  been  as  much 
misunderstood  as  any  other  words  He  ever  spoke.  It 
has  been  assumed  that  He  spoke  across  the  boundary 
between  the  new  dispensation  and  the  old,  as  One 
from  whose  movements  the  restraints  of  Judaism  had 
entirely  fallen  away,  to  those  who  were  still  entangled 
And  it  has  been  inferred  that  the  Fourth  Command- 
ment was  no  more  than  such  a  restraint,  now  thrown 
off  among  the  rest.  But  this  is  quite  a  misapprehen- 
sion both  of  His  position  and  theirs.  On  earth  He 
was  a  minister  of  the  circumcision.  He  bade  His 
disciples  to  observe  and  do  all  that  was  commanded 
from  the  seat  of  Moses.  And  it  is  by  Old  Testament 
precedent,  and  from  Old  Testament  principles,  that  He 
now  refutes  the  objection   of  the  Pharisees.     This   is 


68  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

what  gives  the  passage  half  its  charm,  this  discovery 
of  freedom  like  our  own  in  the  heart  of  the  stern  old 
Hebrew  discipline,  as  a  fountain  and  flowers  on  the  face 
of  a  granite  crag,  this  demonstration  that  all  we  now 
enjoy  is  developed  from  what  already  lay  in  germ 
enfolded  in  the  law. 

David  and  his  followers,  when  at  extremity,  had 
eaten  the  shewbread  which  it  was  not  lawful  for  them 
to  eat.  It  is  a  striking  assertion.  We  should  proba- 
bly have  sought  a  softer  phrase.  We  should  have  said 
that  in  other  circumstances  it  would  have  been  unlaw- 
ful, that  only  necessity  made  it  lawful ;  we  should  have 
refused  to  look  straight  in  the  face  the  naked  ugly  fact 
that  David  broke  the  law.  But  Jesus  was  not  afraid 
of  any  fact.  He  saw  and  declared  that  the  priests  in 
the  Temple  itself  profaned  the  Sabbath  when  they 
baked  the  shewbread  and  when  they  circumcised  chil- 
dren. They  were  blameless,  not  because  the  Fourth 
Commandment  remained  inviolate,  but  because  circum- 
stances made  it  right  for  them  to  profane  the  Sabbath. 
And  His  disciples  were  blameless  also,  upon  the  same 
principle,  that  the  larger  obligation  overruled  the 
lesser,  that  all  ceremonial  observance  gave  way  to 
human  need,  that  mercy  is  a  better  thing  than  sacri- 
fice. 

And  thus  it  appeared  that  the  objectors  were  them- 
selves the  transgressors ;  they  had  condemned  the 
guiltless. 

A  little  reflection  will  show  that  our  Lord's  bold 
method,  His  startling  admission  that  David  and  the 
piiests  alike  did  that  which  was  not  lawful,  is  much 
more  truly  reverential  than  our  soft  modern  compro- 
mises, our  shifty  devices  for  persuading  ourselves  that 
in  various  permissible  and   even  necessary  deviations 


Mark  ii.  23-28.]  THE  SABDA  TH.  69 

from  prescribed  observances,  there  is  no  real  infraction 
of  any  law  whatever. 

To  do  this,  we  reduce  to  a  minimum  the  demands  of 
the  precept.  We  train  ourselves  to  think,  not  of  its 
full  extension,  but  of  what  we  can  compress  it  into. 
Therefore,  in  future,  even  when  no  urgency  exists,  the 
precept  has  lost  all  beyond  this  minimum  ;  its  sharp 
edges  are  filed  away.  Jesus  leaves  it  to  resume  all 
its  energy,  when  mercy  no  longer  forbids  the  sacri- 
fice. 

The  text,  then,  says  nothing  about  the  abolition  of 
a  Day  of  Rest.  On  the  contrary,  it  declares  that  this 
day  is  not  a  Jewish  but  a  universal  ordinance,  it  is 
made  for  man.  At  the  same  time,  it  refuses  to  place 
the  Sabbath  among  the  essential  and  inflexible  laws  of 
right  and  wrong.  It  is  made  for  man,  for  his  physical 
repose  and  spiritual  culture  ;  man  was  not  made  for 
it,  as  he  is  for  purity,  truth,  and  godliness.  Better  for  ,  , 
him  to  die  than  outrage  these  ;  they  are  the  laws  of 
his  very  being ;  he  is  royal  by  serving  them  ;  in  obey- 
ing them  he  obeys  his  God.  It  is  not  thus  with 
anything  external,  ceremonial,  any  ritual,  any  rule 
of  conduct,  however  universal  be  its  range,  however 
permanent  its  sanctions.  The  Sabbath  is  such  a  rule, 
permanent,  far-reaching  as  humanity,  made  "  for  man." 
But  this  very  fact,  Jesus  tells  us,  is  the  reason  why  He 
Who  represented  the  race  and  its  interests,  was  ''Lord 
even  of  the  Sabbath." 

Let  those  who  deny  the  Divine  authority  of  this 
great  institution  ponder  well  the  phrase  which  asserts 
its  universal  range,  and  which  finds  it  a  large  assertion 
of  the  mastery  of  Christ  that  He  is  Lord  "even  of  the 
Sabbath."  But  those  who  have  scruples  about  the 
change  of  day   by   which  honour   is  paid   to   Christ's 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 


resurrection,  and  those  who  would  make  burdensome 
and  dreary,  a  horror  to  the  young  and  a  torpor  to  the 
old,  what  should  be  called  a  delight  and  honourable, 
these  should  remember  that  the  ordinance  is  blighted, 
root  and  branch,  when  it  is  forbidden  to  minister  to 
the  physical  or  spiritual  welfare  of  the  human  race. 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE    WITHERED  HAND. 

"  And  He  entered  again  into  the  synagogue  ;  and  there  was  a  man 
there  which  had  his  hand  withered.  And  they  watched  Him,  whether 
He  would  heal  him  on  the  sabbath  day  ;  that  they  might  accuse  Hiai. 
And  He  saith  unto  the  man  that  had  his  hand  withered,  Stand  forth. 
And  He  saith  unto  them,  Is  it  lawful  on  the  sabbath  day  to  do  good 
or  to  do  harm?  to  save  a  life,  or  to  kill?  But  they  held  their  peace. 
And  when  He  had  looked  round  about  on  them  with  anger,  being 
grieved  at  the  hardening  of  their  heart,  He  saith  unto  the  man, 
Stretch  forth  thy  liand.  And  he  stretched  it  forth  :  and  his  hand  was 
restored.  And  the  Pharisees  went  out,  and  straightway  with  the  Hero- 
dians  look  counsel  against  Him,  how  they  might  destroy  Him." — 
Mark  iii.  i-6  (R.V.). 

N  the  controversies  just  recorded,  we  have  recog- 
nised the  ideal  Teacher,  clear  to  discern  and  quick 
to  exhibit  the  decisive  point  at  issue,  careless  of  small 
pedantries,  armed  with  principles  and  precedents  which 
go  to  the  heart  of  the  dispute. 

But  the  perfect  man  must  be  competent  in  more  than 
theory  ;  and  we  have  now  a  marvellous  example  of 
tact,  decision  and  self-control  in  action.  When  Sabbath 
observance  is  again  discussed,  his  enemies  have  re- 
sohed  to  push  matters  to  extremity.  They  watch,  no 
longer  to  cavil,  but  that  they  may  accuse  Him.  It  is 
in  the  synagogue;  and  their  expectations  are  sharpened 
by  the  presence  of  a  pitiable  object,  a  man  whose  hand 
is  not  only  paralyzed  in  the  sinews,  but  withered  up 
and  hopeless.      St.  Luke  tells  us  that  it  was  the  right 


72  GOSPEL    OF  ST.  MARK. 

hand,  which  deepened  his  misery.  And  St.  Matthew 
records  that  they  asked  Christ,  Is  it  lawful  to  heal  on 
the  Sabbath  day  ?  thus  urging  Him  by  a  challenge  to 
the  deed  which  they  condemned.  "What  a  miserable 
state  of  mind  !  They  believe  that  Jesus  can  work  the 
cure,  since  this  is  the  very  basis  of  their  plot ;  and  yet 
their  hostility  is  not  shaken,  for  belief  in  a  miracle  is 
not  conversion  ;  to  acknowledge  a  prodigy  is  one  thing, 
and  to  surrender  the  will  is  quite  another.  Or  how 
should  we  see  around  us  so  many  Christians  in  theory, 
reprobates  in  life  ?  They  long  to  see  the  man  healed, 
yet  there  is  no  compassion  in  this  desire,  hatred  urges 
them  to  wash  what  mercy  impels  Christ  to  grant.  But 
while  He  relieves  the  sufferer.  He  will  also  expose  their 
malice.  Therefore  He  makes  His  intention  public,  and 
whets  their  expectation,  by  calling  the  man  forth  into 
the  midst.  And  then  He  meets  their  question  with 
another :  Is  it  lawful  to  do  good  on  the  Sabbath  day  or 
evil,  to  save  life  or  to  kill  ?  And  when  they  preserved 
their  calculated  silence,  we  know  how  He  pressed  the 
question  home,  reminding  them  that  not  one  of  them 
would  fail  to  draw  His  own  sheep  out  of  a  pit  upon 
the  Sabbath  day.  Selfishness  made  the  difference,  for 
a  man  was  better  than  a  sheep,  but  did  not,  like  the 
sheep,  belong  to  them.  They  do  not  answer :  instead 
of  warning  Him  away  from  guilt,  they  eagerly  await 
the  incriminating  act  :  we  can  almost  see  the  spiteful 
subtle  smile  playing  about  their  bloodless  lips;  and 
Jesus  marks  them  well.  He  looked  round  about  them 
in  anger,  but  not  in  bitter  personal  resentment,  for  He 
v.-as  grieved  at  the  hardness  of  their  hearts,  and  pitied 
them  also,  even  while  enduring  such  contradiction  of 
sinners  against  Himself  This  is  the  first  mention  by 
St.  Mark  of  that  impressive  gaze,  afterwards  so  frequent 


Mark  iii.  1-6.]  THE    ]VITKERED   HAND.  73 

in  ever}'  Gospel,  which  searched  the  scribe  who  answered 
well,  and  melted  the  heart  of  Peter. 

And  now,  by  one  brief  utterance,  their  prey  breaks 
through  their  meshes.  Any  touch  would  have  been  a 
work,  a  formal  infraction  of  the  law.  Therefore  there 
is  no  touch,  neither  is  the  helpless  man  bidden  to  take 
up  any  burden,  or  instigated  to  the  slightest  ritual  irre- 
gularity. Jesus  only  bids  him  do  what  was  forbidden 
to  none,  but  what  had  been  impossible  for  him  to  per- 
form ;  and  the  man  succeeds,  he  does  stretch  forth  his 
hand  :  he  is  healed  :  the  work  is  done.  Yet  nothing 
has  been  done  ;  as  a  work  of  healing  not  even  a  word 
has  been  said.  For  He  who  would  so  often  defy  their 
malice  has  chosen  to  show  once  how  easily  He  can 
evade  it,  and  not  one  of  them  is  more  free  from  any 
blame,  however  technical,  than  He.  The  Pharisees  are 
so  utterly  baffled,  so  helpless  in  His  hands,  so  "  filled 
with  madness  "  that  they  invoke  against  this  new  foe 
the  help  of  their  natural  enemies,  the  Herodians. 
These  appear  on  the  stage  because  the  immense  spread 
of  the  Messianic  movement  endangers  the  Idumaean 
dynasty.  When  first  the  wise  men  sought  an  infant 
King  of  the  Jews,  the  Herod  of  that  day  was  troubled. 
That  instinct  which  struck  at  His  cradle  is  now  re- 
awakened, and  will  not  slumber  again  until  the  fatal 
day  when  the  new  Herod  shall  set  Him  at  nought  and 
mock  Him.  In  the  meanwhile  these  strange  allies 
perplex  themselves  with  the  hard  question,  How  is  it 
possible  to  destroy  so  acute  a  foe. 

While  observing  their  malice,  and  the  exquisite  skill 
which  baffles  it,  we  must  not  lose  sight  of  other  lessons. 
It  is  to  be  observed  that  no  offence  to  hypocrites,  no 
danger  to  Himself,  prevented  Jesus  from  removing 
human  suffering.     And  also  that  He  expects  from  the 


74  GOSPEL   OF  ST.   MARK, 

man  a  certain  co-operation  involving  faith  :  he  must 
stand  forth  in  the  midst ;  every  one  must  see  his  un- 
happiness ;  he  is  to  assume  a  position  which  will 
become  ridiculous  unless  a  miracle  is  wrought.  Then 
he  must  make  an  effort.  In  the  act  of  stretching  forth 
his  hand  the  strength  to  stretch  it  forth  is  given  ;  but 
he  would  not  have  tried  the  experiment  unless  he 
trusted  before  he  discovered  the  power.  Such  is  the 
faith  demanded  of  our  sin-stricken  and  helpless  souls; 
a  faith  which  confesses  its  wretchedness,  believes  in 
the  good  will  of  God  and  the  promises  of  Christ,  and 
receives  the  experience  of  blessing  through  having  acted 
on  the  belief  that  already  the  blessing  is  a  fact  in  the 
Divine  volition. 

Nor  may  we  overlook  the  mysterious  impalpable 
spiritual  power  which  effects  its  purposes  without  a 
touch,  or  even  an  explicit  word  of  healing  import. 
What  is  it  but  the  power  of  Him  Who  spake  and  it 
was  done.  Who  commanded  and  it  stood  fast  ? 

And  all  this  vividness  of  look  and  bearing,  this 
innocent  subtlety  of  device  combined  with  a  boldness 
which  stung  His  foes  to  madness,  all  this  richness  and 
verisimilitude  of  detail,  this  truth  to  the  character  of 
Jesus,  this  spiritual  freedom  from  the  trammels  of  a 
system  petrified  and  grown  rigid,  this  observance  in  a 
secular  act  of  the  requirements  of  the  spiritual  kingdom, 
all  this  wealth  of  internal  evidence  goes  to  attest  one 
of  the  minor  miracles  which  sceptics  declare  to  be 
incredible. 


Markiii.  7-I9-]     T^E    CHOICE    OF   THE    TWELVE.  75 


THE    CHOICE    OF   THE    TWELVE. 

"And  Jesus  with  His  disciples  withdrew  to  the  sea:  and  a  great 
mukitude  from  Galilee  followed  :  and  from  Jucliea,  and  from  Jerusalem, 
and  irom  Idumrea,  and  beyond  Jordan,  and  about  Tyre  and  Sidoii,  a 
great  multitude,  hearing  what  great  things  He  did,  came  unto  Him. 
And  He  spake  to  His  disciples,  that  a  little  boat  should  wait  on  Him 
because  of  the  crowd,  lest  they  should  throng  Him  :  for  He  had  healed 
many;  insomuch  that  as  many  as  had  plagues  pressed  upon  Him  that 
they  might  touch  Him.  And  the  unclean  spirits,  whensoever  they  be- 
lield  Him,  fell  down  before  Him,  and  cried,  saying,  Thou  art  the  Son 
of  God.  And  He  charged  them  much  that  they  should  not  make  Him 
known.  And  He  goeth  up  into  the  mountain,  and  callelh  unto  Him 
whom  He  Himself  would  :  and  ihey  went  unto  Him.  And  He  appointed 
twelve,  that  they  might  be  with  Him,  and  that  He  might  send  them 
forth  to  preach,  and  to  have  authority  to  cast  out  devils  :  and  Simon 
he  surnamed  Peter  ;  and  James  the  son  of  Zebedee,  and  John  the 
brother  of  James  ;  and  them  He  surnamed  Boanerges,  which  is.  Sons 
of  thunder:  and  Andrew,  and  Philip,  and  Bartholomew,  and  Matthew, 
and  Thomas,  and  James  the  son  of  Alphieus,  and  Thaddceus,  and 
Simon  the  Cananeean,  and  Judas  Iscariot,  which  also  betrayed  Him." — 
Mai<.K  iii.  7-19  (R.V.). 

We  have  reached  a  crisis  in  the  labours  of  the  Lord, 
when  hatred  which  has  become  deadly  is  preparing  a 
blow.  The  Pharisees  are  aware,  by  a  series  of  experi- 
ences, that  His  method  is  destructive  to  their  system, 
that  He  is  too  fearless  to  make  terms  with  them,  that 
He  will  strip  the  mask  off  their  faces.  Their  rage 
was  presently  intensified  by  an  immense  extension  of 
His  fame.  And  therefore  He  withdrew  from  the  plots 
which  ripen  most  easily  in  cities,  the  hotbeds  of 
intrigue,  to  the  open  coast.  It  is  His  first  retreat 
before  opposition,  and  careful  readers  of  the  Gospels 
must  observe  that  whenever  the  pressure  of  His  enemies 
became  extreme,  He  turned  for  safety  to  the  simple 
fi.shermen,    among    whom    they    had    no    party,    since 


76  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


they  had  preached  no  gospel  to  the  poor,  and  tliat 
He  was  frequently  conveyed  by  water  from  point  to 
point,  easily  reached  by  followers,  who  sometimes 
indeed  outran  Him  upon  foot,  but  where  treason  had 
to  begin  its  wiles  afresh.  Hither,  perhaps  camping 
along  the  beach,  came  a  great  multitude  not  only  from 
Galilee  but  also  from  Jud^a,  and  even  from  the  capital, 
the  headquarters  of  the  priesthood,  and  by  a  journey 
of  several  days  from  Idumaea,  and  from  Tyre  and 
Sidon,  so  that  afterwards,  even  there.  He  could  not  be 
hid.  Many  came  to  see  what  great  things  He  did, 
but  others  bore  with  them  some  afflicted  friend,  or 
were  themselves  sore  stricken  by  disease.  And  Jesus 
gave  like  a  God,  opening  His  hand  and  satisfying  their 
desires,  "  for  power  went  out  of  Him,  and  healed  them 
all."  Not  yet  had  the  unbelief  of  man  restrained  the 
compassion  of  His  heart,  and  forced  Him  to  exhibit 
another  phase  of  the  mind  of  God,  by  refusing  to  give 
that  which  is  holy  to  the  dogs.  As  yet,  therefore.  He 
healeth  all  their  diseases.  Then  arose  an  unbecoming 
and  irreverent  rush  of  as  many  as  had  plagues  to  touch 
Him.  A  more  subtle  danger  mingled  itself  with  this 
peril  from  undue  eagerness.  For  unclean  spirits,  who 
knew  His  mysterious  personality,  observed  that  this 
was  stiil  a  secret,  and  was  no  part  of  His  teaching, 
since  His  disciples  could  not  bear  it  yet.  Many  months 
afterwards,  ilesh  and  blood  had  not  revealed  it  even 
to  Peter.  And  therefore  the  demons  made  malicious 
haste  to  proclaim  Him  the  Son  of  God,  and  Jesus  was 
obliged  to  charge  them  much  that  they  should  not 
make  Him  known.  This  action  of  His  may  teach  His 
follovveis  to  be  discreet.  Falsehood  indeed  is  always 
evil,  but  at  times  reticence  is  a  duty,  because  certain 
truths  are  a  medicine  too  powerful  for  some  stages  of 


Markiii.7-i9-]     THE    CHOICE   OF   THE    TWELVE.  77 


spiritual   disease.     The   strong   sun   which   ripens    the 
grain  in  autumn,  would  burn  up  the  tender  germs  of 

spring. 

But  it  was  necessary  to  teach  as  well  as  to  heal. 
And  Jesus  showed  his  ready  practical  ingenuity,  by 
arranging  that  a  little  boat  should  wait  on  Him,  and 
furnish  at  once  a  pulpit  and  a  retreat. 

And    now    Jesus    took    action    distinctly    Messianic. 
The  harvest  of  souls  was  plenteous,  but  the  appointed 
labourers  were  unfaithful,  and  a  new  organisation  was 
to  take  their  place.     The  sacraments  and  the  apostolate 
are  indeed  the  only  two  institutions  bestowed  upon  His 
Church  by  Christ  Himself;  but  the  latter  is  enough  to 
show  that,  so  early  in  His  course.  He  saw  His  way  to 
a  revolution.     He  appointed   twelve  apostles,  in  clear 
allusion    to    the    tribes    of    a    new    Israel,    a    spiritual 
circumcision,  another  peculiar  people.     A  new  Jerusalem 
should    arise,    with     their    names    engraven    upon    its 
twelve  foundation  stones.     But  since  all  great  changes 
arrive,  not  by  manufacture  but  by  growth,  and  in  co- 
operation with  existing  circumstances,  since  nations  and 
constitutions  are  not  made  but  evolved,  so  was  it  also 
with  the  Church  of  Christ.     The  first  distinct  and  formal 
announcement  of  a  new  sheepfold,  entered  by  a  new 
and  living  Way,  only  came  when  evoked  by  the  action 
of  His  enemies  in  casting  out  the  man  who  was  born 
blind.     By  that  time,   the  apostles  were  almost  ready 
to   take   their    place   in   it.     They   had    learned   much. 
They    had    watched    the    marvellous    career    to    which 
their  testimony  should  be  rendered.     By  exercise  they 
had    learned  the  reality,   and  by  failure  the  condition 
of  the  miraculous  powers  which  they  should  transmit. 
But  long  before,  at  the  period  we  have  now   reached, 
the  apostles  had    been  chosen    under  pressure  of   the 


78  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

necessity  to  meet  the  hostility  of  the  Pharisees  with  a 
counter-agency,  and  to  spread  the  knowledge  of  His 
power  and  doctrine  farther  than  One  Teacher,  however 
endowed,  could  reach.  They  were  to  be  workers 
together  witii  Him. 

St.  Mark  tells  us  that  He  went  up  into  the  mountain, 
the  well  known  hill  of  the  neighbourhood,  as  St. 
Luke  also  implies,  and  there  called  unto  Him  \vhom 
He  Himself  would.  The  emphasis  refutes  a  curious 
conjecture,  that  Judas  may  have  been  urged  upon  Him 
with  such  importunity  by  the  rest  that  to  reject  becam.e 
a  worse  evil  than  to  receive  him.*  The  choice  was  all 
His  own,  and  in  their  early  enthusiasm  not  one  whom 
He  summoned  refused  the  call.  Out  of  these  He 
chose  the  Twelve,  elect  of  the  election. 

We  learn  from  St.  Luke  (v.  12)  that  His  choice, 
fraught  with  such  momentous  issues,  was  made  after 
a  whole  night  of  prayer,  and  from  St.  Matthew  that 
He  also  commanded  the  whole  body  of  His  disciples 
to  pray  the  Lord  of  the  Harvest,  not  that  they  them- 
selves should  be  chosen,  but  that  He  would  send  forth 
labourers  into  His  harvest. 

Now  who  were  these  by  v^'hose  agency  the  downward 
course  of  humanity  was  reversed,  and  the  traditions  of 
a  Divine  faith  were  poured  into  a  new  mould  ? 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  their  ranks  were  after- 
wards recruited  from  the  purest  Hebrew  blood  and 
ripest  culture  of  the  time.  The  addition  of  Saul  of 
Tarsus  proved  that  knowledge  and  position  were  no 
more  proscribed  than  indispensable.  Yet  is  it  in  the 
last  degree  suggestive,  that  Jesus  drew  His  personal 
followers  from  classes,  not  indeed  oppressed  by  want, 

*Lange.  Life  of  Christ,  ii.  p.  179, 


Mark  iii.  7-19-]     THE    CHOICE    OF  THE    TWELVE.  79 

but  lowly,  unwarped  by  the  prejudicies  of  the  time, 
living  in  close  contact  with  nature  and  with  unsophisti- 
cated men,  speaking  and  thinking  the  words  and 
thoughts  of  the  race  and  not  of  its  coteries,  and  face  to 
face  with  the  great  primitive  wants  and  sorrows  over 
which  artificial  refinement  spreads  a  thin,  but  often  a 
baffling  veil. 

With  one  exception  the  Nazarene  called  Galileans  to 
His  ministry ;  and  the  Carpenter  was  followed  by  a 
group  of  fishermen,  by  a  despised  publican,  by  a  zealot 
whose  love  of  Israel  had  betrayed  him  into  wild  and 
lawless  theories  at  least,  perhaps  into  evil  deeds,  and 
by  several  whose  previous  life  and  subsequent  labours 
are  unknown  to  earthly  fame.  Such  are  the  Judges 
enthroned  over  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel. 

A  mere  comparison  of  the  lists  refutes  the  notion 
that  any  one  Evangelist  has  worked  up  the  materials 
of  another,  so  diverse  are  they,  and  yet  so  easily  recon- 
ciled. Matthew  in  one  is  Levi  in  another.  Thaddisus, 
Jude,  and  Lebbaeus,  are  interchangeable.  The  order 
of  the  Twelve  differs  in  all  the  four  lists,  and  yet  there 
are  such  agreements,  even  in  this  respect,  as  to  prove 
that  all  the  Evangelists  were  writing  about  what  they 
understood.  Divide  the  Twelve  into  three  ranks  of 
four,  and  in  none  of  the  four  catalogues  will  any  name, 
or  its  equivalent,  be  found  to  have  wandered  out  of  its 
subdivision,  out  of  the  first,  second,  or  third  rank,  in 
which  doubtless  that  apostle  habitually  followed  Jesus. 
Within  each  rank  there  is  the  utmost  diversity  of  place, 
except  that  the  foremost  name  in  each  is  never  varied  ; 
Peter,  Philip,  and  the  Lesser  James,  hold  the  first, 
fifth,  and  ninth  place  in  every  catalogue.  And  the 
traitor  is  always  last.  These  are  coincidences  too 
slight    for   design  and   too  striking   for   accident,  they 


8o  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

are  the  natural  signs  of  truth.  For  they  indicate,  with- 
out obtruding  or  cxvlaining,  some  arrangement  of 
the  ranks,  and  some  leadership  of  an  individual  in 
each. 

Moreover,  the  group  of  the  apostles  presents  a 
wonderfully  lifelike  aspect.  Fear,  ambition,  rivalr_y, 
perplexity,  silence  when  speech  is  called  for,  and 
speech  when  silence  is  befitting,  vows,  failures,  and  yet 
real  loyalty,  alas  !  we  know  them  all.  The  incidents 
which  are  recorded  of  the  chosen  of  Christ  no  inventor 
of  the  second  century  would  have  dared  to  devise  ;  and 
as  we  study  them,  we  feel  the  touch  of  genuine  life; 
not  of  colossal  statues  such  as  repose  beneath  the 
dome  of  St.  Peter's,  but  of  men,  genuine,  simple  and 
even  somewhat  childlike,  yet  full  of  strong,  fresh,  un- 
sophisticated feeling,  fit  therefore  to  become  a  great 
power,  and  especially  so  in  the  capacity  of  witnesses 
for  an  ennobling  yet  controverted  fact. 

CHARACTERISTICS   OF  THE   TWELVE. 

"And  He  appointed  twelve,  that  they  might  be  with  Him,  and 
that  He  might  fend  tliem  forth  to  preach,  and  to  have  authority  to 
cast  out  devils:  and  Simon  He  surnamed  Peter;  and  James  the  j^« 
of  Zebedee,  and  John  the  brother  of  James  ;  and  them  He  surnamtd 
Boanerges,  which  is,  Sons  of  thunder  :  and  Andrew,  and  Phdip,  and 
Bartholomew,  and  Matthew,  and  Thomas,  and  James  the  son  of 
Alpl'Kiis,  and  Thadda^us,  and  Simon  the  Cananre^n,  and  Judas 
Iscariot,   which  also  betrayed  Him." — Mark  iii.    14-19  (R.  V.). 

The  pictures  of  the  Twelve,  then,  are  drawn  from  a  living 
group.  And  when  they  are  examined  in  detail,  this 
appearance  of  vitality  is  strengthened,  by  the  richest 
and  most  vivid  indications  of  individual  character,  such 
indeed  as  in  several  cases  to  throw  light  upon  the 
choice  of  Jesus.     To  invent  such  touches  is  the  last 


Markiii.  I4-I9-]     CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  TIVELVE.     Si 

attainment  of  dramatic  genius,  and  the  artist  rarel_v 
succeeds  except  by  deliberate  and  palpable  characler- 
painting.  The  whole  story  of  Hamlet  and  of  Lear  is 
constructed  with  this  end  in  view,  but  no  one  has  ever 
conjectured  that  the  Gospels  were  psychological  studies. 
If,  then,  we  can  discover  several  well-detined  charac- 
ters, harmoniously  drawn  by  various  writers,  as  natural 
as  the  central  figure  is  supernatural,  and  to  be  recog- 
nised equally  in  the  common  and  the  miraculous  narra- 
tives, this  will  be  an  evidence  of  the  utmost  value. 

We  are  all  familiar  with  the  impetuous  vigour  of 
St.  Peter,  a  quality  which  betrayed  him  into  grave  and 
well-nigh  fatal  errors,  but  when  chastened  by  suffering 
made  him  a  noble  and  formidable  leader  of  the  Twelve. 
We  recognise  it  when  He  says,  "  Thou  shalt  never 
wash  my  feet,"  "  Though  all  men  should  deny  Thee,  yet 
will  I  never  deny  Thee,''  "  Lord,  to  whom  should  we 
go  ?  Thou  hast  the  words  of  everlasting  life,"  "  Thou 
art  the  Christ,  the  Son  oi  the  living  God,"  and  in  his 
rebuke  of  Jesus  for  self-sacrifice,  and  in  his  rash  blow 
in  the  garden.  Does  this,  the  best  established  mental 
quality  of  any  apostle,  fail  or  grow  faint  in  the  miracu- 
lous stories  which  are  condemned  as  the  accretions  of  a 
later  time  ?  In  such  stories  he  is  related  to  have  cried 
out,  "  Depart  from  me,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  O  Lord," 
he  would  walk  upon  the  sea  to  Jesus,  he  proposed  to 
shelter  Moses  and  Elijah  from  the  night  air  in  booths 
(a  notion  so  natural  to  a  bewildered  man,  so  exquisite 
in  its  officious  v;ell-meaning  absurdity  as  to  prove  it- 
self, for  who  could  have  invented  it?),  he  ventured  into 
the  empty  sepulchre  v/hi'.e  John  stood  avre-stricken  at 
the  portal,  he  plunged  into  the  lake  to  seek  his  risen 
Master  on  the  shore,  and  he  was  presently  the  first  to 
draw  the  net  to  land.     Observe  the  restless  curiosity 

6 


82  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

which  beckoned  to  John  to  ask  who  was  the  traitor, 
and  compare  it  with  his  question,  "  Lord,  and  what  shall 
this  man  do  ?"  But  the  second  of  these  was  after  the 
resurrection,  and  in  answer  to  a  prophecy.  Every- 
where we  find  a  real  person  and  the  same,  and  the 
vehemence  is  everywhere  that  of  a  warm  heart,  which 
could  fail  signally  but  could  w'eep  bitterly  as  well, 
which  could  learn  not  to  claim,  though  twice  invited, 
greater  love  than  that  of  others,  but  when  asked 
"  Lovest  thou  Me  "  at  all,  broke  out  into  the  passionate 
appeal,  "  Lord,  Thou  knowest  all  things.  Thou  knowest 
that  I  love  Thee."  Dull  is  the  ear  of  the  critic  which 
fails  to  recognise  here  the  voice  of  Simon.  Yet  the 
stor}'^  implies  the  resurrection. 

The  mind  of  Jesus  was  too  lofty  and  grave  for 
epigram ;  but  He  put  the  wilful  self-reliance  which 
Peter  had  to  subdue  even  to  crucifixion,  into  one  deli- 
cate and  subtle  phrase  :  "  When  thou  wast  young,  thou 
girdedst  thyself,  and  walkedst  whither  thou  wouldest." 
That  self-willed  stride,  with  the  loins  girded,  is  the 
natural  gait  of  Peter,  when  he  was  young. 

St.  James,  the  first  apostolic  martyr,  seems  to  have 
over-topped  for  a  while  his  greater  brother  St.  John, 
before  whom  he  is  usually  named,  and  who  is  once  dis- 
tinguished as  "  the  brother  of  James."  He  shares  with 
him  the  title  of  a  Son  of  Thunder  (Mark  iii.  17).  They 
were  together  in  desiring  to  rival  the  fiery  and  aveng- 
ing miracle  of  Elijah,  and  to  partake  of  the  profound 
baptism  and  bitter  cup  of  Christ.  It  is  an  undesigned 
coincidence  in  character,  that  while  the  latter  of  these 
events  is  recorded  by  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark,  the 
former,  which,  it  will  be  observed  implies  perfect  confi- 
dence in  the  supernatural  power  of  Christ,  is  found  in 
St.   Luke   alone,  who   has    not  mentioned   the    title  it 


Mark  iii.  14-19]    CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE   TWELVE.     83 


justifies  so  curiously  (Matt.  xx.  20;  Marie  x.  35  ;  Luke 
ix.  54).      It  is  more  remarkable  that  he  whom  Christ 
bade  to  share  his  distinctive  title  with  another,  should 
not  once  be  named  as  having  acted  or  spoken  by  him- 
self.    With  a  fire  like  that  of  Peter,  but  no  such  power 
of  initiative  and  of  chieftainship,  how  natural  it  is  that 
his  appointed  task  was  martyrdom.      Is  it  objected  that 
his  brother  also,  the  great  apostle  St.  John,  received  only 
a  share  in  that  divided  title  ?     But  the  family  trait  is 
quite  as   palpable   in   him.     The   deeds  of  John  were 
seldom  wrought  upon  his  own  responsibility,  never  if 
we  except  the  bringing  of  Peter  into  the  palace  of  the 
high  priest.      Me  is  a  keen  observer  and  a  deep  thinker. 
But  he  cannot,  like  his  Master,  combine  the  quality  of 
leader  with  those  of  student  and  sage.    In  company  with 
Andrew  he  found  the  Messiah.     We  have  seen  James 
leading  him  for  a  time.     It  was  in  obedience  to  a  sign 
from  Peter  that  He  asked  who  was  the  traitor.     With 
Peter,  when  Jesus  was  arrested,  he  followed  afar  off. 
It  is  'very  characteristic  that  he  shrank  from  entering 
the   sepulchre  until   Peter,   coming  up  behind,  went  in 
first,  although  it  was  John  who  thereupon   "  saw  and 

believed."  * 

With  like  discernment,  he  was  the  first  to  recognise 
Jesus  beside  the  lake,  but  then  it  was  equally  natural 
that  he  should  tell  Peter,  and  follow  in  the  ship, 
dragging  the  net  to  land,  as  that  Peter  should  gird 
hini'self  and  plunge  into  the  lake.  Peter,  when  Jesus 
drew  him  aside,  turned  and  saw  the  disciple  whom 
Jesus  loved  following,  with  the  same  silent,  gentle,  and 
sociable  affection,  which  had  so  recently  joined  him  with 

*  It  is  al.o  very  natural  that,  in  telling  the  story,  he  should  remem- 
ber how,  while  hesilatmg  to  enter,  he  "  stooped  down  to  gaze,  m  the 
wild  dawn  of  his  new  hope. 


84  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

the  saddest  and  tenderest  of  all  companions  underneath 
the  cross.  At  this  point  there  is  a  delicate  and  sugges- 
tive turn  of  phrase.  By  what  incident  would  any  pen 
except  his  own  have  chosen  to  describe  the  beloved 
disciple  as  Peter  then  beheld  him  ?  Assuredly  we 
should  have  written,  The  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved, 
who  also  followed  Him  to  Calvary,  and  to  whom  He 
confided  His  mother.  But  from  St.  John  himself  there 
would  have  been  a  trace  of  boastfulness  in  such  a 
phrase.  Now  the  author  of  the  Fourth  Gospel, 
choosing  rather  to  speak  of  privilege  than  service, 
wrote  "The  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved,  which  also 
leaned  back  on  His  breast  at  the  supper,  and  said. 
Lord,  who  is  he  that  betrayeth  Thee  ?  ". 

St.  John  was  again  with  St.  Peter  at  the  Beautiful 
Gate,  and  although  it  was  not  he  who  healed  the  cripple, 
yet  his  co-operation  is  implied  in  the  words,  "  Peter, 
fastening  his  eyes  on  him,  zvith  John."  And  when  the 
Council  would  fain  have  silenced  them,  the  boldness 
which  spoke  in  Peter's  reply  was  "  the  boldness  of 
Peter  and  John." 

Could  any  series  of  events  justify  more  perfectly 
a  title  which  implied  much  zeal,  yet  zeal  that  did  not 
demand  a  specific  unshared  epithet  ?  But  these  events 
are  interwoven  with  the  miraculous  narratives. 

Add  to  this  the  keenness  and  deliberation  which  so 
much  of  his  story  exhibits,  which  at  the  beginning 
tendered  no  hasty  homage,  but  followed  Jesus  to 
examine  and  to  learn,  which  saw  the  meaning  of  the 
crcerly  arrangment  of  the  graveclothes  in  the  empty 
tomb,  which  was  first  to  rcccrnise  the  Lord  upon  tf:e 
beach,  which  before  this  had  felt  somcthirg  in  Christ's 
regard  for  the  least  and  weakest,  inconsister.t  with 
the   forbidding  of  an}'  one  to  cast  out  devils,   and  we 


Markiii.  I4-I9-]    CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  TWELVE.     85 

have  the  very  qualities  required  to  supplement  those 
of  Peter,  without  being  discordant  or  uncongenial. 
And  therefore  it  is  with  Peter,  even  more  than  with  his 
brother,  that  we  have  seen  John  associated.  In  fact 
Christ,  who  sent  out  His  apostles  by  two  and  two,  joins 
these  in  such  small  matters  as  the  tracking  a  man  with 
a  pitcher  into  the  house  where  He  would  keep  the 
Passover.  And  so,  when  Mary  of  Magdala  v/ould 
announce  the  resurrection,  she  found  the  penitent 
Simon  in  company  with  this  loving  John,  comforted, 
and  ready  to  seek  the  tomb  where  he  met  the  Lord  of 
all  Pardons. 

All  this  is  not  only  coherent,  and  full  of  vital  force, 
but  it  also  strengthens  powerfully  the  evidence  for 
his  authorship  of  the  Gospel,  written  the  last,  looking 
deepest  into  sacred  mysteries,  and  comparatively  un- 
concerned for  the  mere  flow  of  narrative,  but  tender 
with  private  and  loving  discourse,  with  thoughts  of 
the  protecting  Shepherd,  the  sustaining  Vine,  the 
Friend  Who  wept  by  a  grave.  Who  loved  John,  Who 
provided  amid  tortures  for  His  mother.  Who  knew  that 
Peter  loved  Him,  and  bade  him  feed  the  lambs — and 
yet  thunderous  as  becomes  a  Boanerges,  with  indig- 
nation half  suppressed  against  "  the  Jews  "  (so  called 
as  if  he  had  renounced  his  murderous  nation),  against 
the  selfish  high-priest  of  "  that  same  year,"  and  against 
the  son  of  perdition,  for  whom  certain  astute  worldlings 
have  surmised  that  his  wrath  was  such  as  they  best 
understand,  personal,  and  perhaps  a  little  spiteful. 
The  temperament  of  John,  revealed  throughout,  was 
that  of  August,  brooding  and  warm  and  hushed  and 
fruitful,  with  low  rumblings  of  tempest  in  the  night. 

It  is  remarkable  that  such  another  family  resemblance, 
as  between  James  and  John  exists  between  Peter  and 


86  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

Andrew.  The  directness  and  self-reliance  of  his 
greater  brother  may  be  discovered  in  the  few  incidents 
recorded  of  Andrew  also.  At  the  beginning,  and  afier 
one  interview  with  Jesus,  when  he  finds  his  brother, 
and  becomes  the  first  of  the  Twelve  to  spread  the 
gospel,  he  utters  the  short  unhesitating  announce- 
ment, "  We  have  found  the  Messiah."  When  Philip 
is  uncertain  about  introducing  the  Greeks  who  would 
see  Jesus,  he  consults  Andrew,  and  there  is  no  more 
hesitation,  Andrew  and  Philip  tell  Jesus.  And  in 
just  the  same  way,  when  Philip  argues  that  two 
hundred  pennyworth  of  bread  are  not  enough  for  the 
multitude,  Andrew  intervenes  with  practical  information 
about  the  five  barley  loaves  and  the  two  small  fishes, 
insufficient  although  they  seem.  A  man  prompt  and 
read}',  and  not  blind  to  the  resources  that  exist  because 
they  appear  scanty. 

Twice  we  have  found  Philip  mentioned  in  con- 
junction with  him.  It  was  Philip,  apparently  accosted 
by  the  Greeks  because  of  his  Gentile  name,  who 
could  not  take  upon  himself  the  responsibility  of 
telling  Jesus  of  their  wish.  And  it  was  he,  when 
consulted  about  the  feeding  of  the  five  thousand,  who 
went  off  into  a  calculation  of  the  price  of  the  food 
required — two  hundred  pennyworth,  he  says,  would 
not  suffice.  Is  it  not  highly  consistent  with  this  slow 
deliberation,  that  he  should  have  accosted  Nathanael 
with  a  statement  so  measured  and  explicit :  "  We  have 
found  Him,  of  whom  Moses  in  the  law,  and  the  pro- 
phets did  write,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  Son  of  Joseph." 
What  a  contrast  to  Andrew's  terse  announcement,  "  We 
have  found  the  Messiah."  And  how  natural  that  Philip 
should  answer  the  objection,  "  Can  any  good  thing 
come  out  of  Nazareth  ?"  with   the  passionless  reason- 


Mark  iii.  14-19]    CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  TWELVE.     87 


able  invitation,  "  Come  and  see."  It  was  in  the  same 
unimaginative  prosaic  way  that  he  said  long  alter, 
"  Lord,  show  us  the  Father,  and  it  sufficeth  us."  To 
this  comparatively  sluggish  temperament,  therefore, 
Jesus  Himself  had  to  address  the  first  demand  He  made 
on  any.  "  Follow  me,"  He  said,  and  was  obeyed.  It 
would  not  be  easy  to  compress  into  such  brief  and  inci- 
dental notices  a  more  graphic  indication  of  character. 

Of  the  others  we  know  little  except  the  names. 
The  choice  of  Matthew,  the  man  of  business,  is  chiefly 
explained  by  the  nature  of  his  Gospel,  so  explicit, 
orderly,  and  methodical,  and  until  it  approaches  the 
crucifixion,  so  devoid  of  fire. 

But  when  we  come  to  Thomas,  we  are  once  more 
aware  of  a  defined  and  vivid  personality,  somewhat 
perplexed  and  melancholy,  of  little  hope  but  settled 
loyalty. 

All  the  three  sayings  reported  of  him  belong  to  a 
dejected  temperament:  "Let  us  also  go,  that  we  may  die 
with  Him" — as  if  there  could  be  no  brighter  meaning 
than  death  in  Christ's  proposal  to  interrupt  a  dead  man's 
sleep.  "  Lord,  we  know  not  whither  Thou  goesf,  and 
how  can  we  know  the  way?" — these  words  express 
exactly  the  same  despondent  failure  to  apprehend. 
And  so  it  comes  to  pass  that  nothing  short  of  tangible 
experience  will  convince  him  of  the  resurrection.  And 
yet  there  is  a  warm  and  devoted  heart  to  be  recognised 
in  the  proposal  to  share  Christ's  death,  in  the  yearning 
to  know  whither  He  went,  and  even  in  that  agony  of 
unbelief,  which  dwelt  upon  the  cruel  details  of  suffering, 
until  it  gave  way  to  one  glad  cry  of  recognition  and  of 
worship;  therefore  his  demand  was  granted,  although 
a  richer  blessing  was  reserved  for  those  who,  not 
having  seen,   believed. 


GOSPEL    Of   ST.    MARK. 


THE    APOSTLE    JUDAS. 
"  And  Judas  Iscariot,  which  also  betrayed  Ilim." — Mark  iii,  19, 

The  evidential  value  of  what  has  been  written  about 
the  apostles  will,  to  some  minds,  seem  to  be  overborne 
by  the  difficulties  which  start  up  at  the  name  of  Judas. 
And  yet  tiie  fact  that  Jesus  chose  him — that  awful  fact 
which  has  offended  many — is  in  harmony  with  all  that 
we  see  around  us,  with  the  prodigious  powers  bestowed 
upon  Napoleon  and  Voltaire,  bestowed  in  full  know- 
ledge of  the  dark  results,  yet  given  because  the  issues 
of  human  freewill  never  cancel  the  trusts  imposed  on 
human  responsibility.  Therefore  the  issues  of  the 
freewill  of  Judas  did  not  cancel  the  trust  imposed  upon 
his  responsibility ;  and  Jesus  acted  not  on  His  fore- 
knowledge of  the  future,  but  on  the  mighty  possi- 
bilities, for  guod  as  for  evil,  which  heaved  in  the  bosom 
of  the  fated  man  as  he  stood  upon  the  mountain 
sward. 

In  the  story  of  Judas,  the  principles  which  rule  the 
world  are  made  visible.  From  Adam  to  this  day  mer 
have  been  trusted  who  failed  and  fell,  and  out  of  theii 
very  downfall,  but  not  by  precipitating  it,  the  plans  of 
God  have  evolved  themselves. 

It  is  not  possible  to  make  such  a  study  of  the  cha- 
racter of  Judas  as  of  some  others  of  the  Twelve.  A 
traitor  is  naturally  taciturn.  No  word  of  his  draws 
our  attention  to  the  fact  that  he  had  gained  possession 
of  the  bag,  even  though  one  who  had  sat  at  the  receipt 
of  custom  might  more  naturally  have  become  the  trea- 
surer. We  do  not  hear  his  voice  above  the  rest,  until 
St.  John  explains  the  source  of  the  general  discontent, 
which  remonstrated  against  the  waste  of  ointment.     He 


Mark  Hi.  19.]  THE  APOSTLE  JUDAS.  89 

is  silent  even  at  the  feast,  in  despite  of  the  words  which 
revealed  his  guilty  secret,  until  a  slow  and  tardy  cjues- 
tion  is  wrung  from  him,  not  "Is  it  I,  Lord?"  but 
"Rabbi,  is  it  I?"  His  influence  is  like  that  of  a  subtle 
poison,  not  discerned  until  its  effects  betray  it. 

But  many  words  of  Jesus  acquire  new  force  and 
energy  when  we  observe  that,  Vv'hatever  their  drift 
beside,  they  were  plainly  calculated  to  influence  and 
warn  Iscariot.  Such  are  the  repeated  and  urgent 
warnings  against  covetousness,  from  the  first  parable, 
spoken  so  shortly  after  his  vocation,  which  reckons  the 
deceitfulness  of  riches  and  the  lust  of  other  things 
among  the  tares  that  choke  the  seed,  down  to  the 
declaration  that  they  who  trust  in  riches  shall  hardly 
enter  the  kingdom.  Such  are  the  denunciations  against 
hypocrisy,  spoken  openly,  as  in  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  or  to  His  own  apart,  as  when  He  warned  them 
of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees  which  is  hypocrisy,  that 
secret  vice  which  was  eating  out  the  soul  of  one  among 
them.  Such  were  the  opportunities  given  to  retreat 
without  utter  dishonour,  as  when  He  said,  "  Do  ye 
also  will  to  go  away  ?  .  .  .  Did  I  not  choose  you  the 
Twelve,  and  one  of  you  is  a  devil  ?  "  (John  vi.  6],  yo). 
And  such  also  were  the  awful  warnings  given  of  the 
solemn  responsibilities  of  special  privileges.  The  exalted 
city  which  is  brought  down  to  hell,  the  salt  which  is 
trodden  under  foot,  the  men  whose  sin  remained  be- 
cause they  can  claim  to  see,  and  still  more  plainly,  the 
first  that  shall  be  last,  and  the  man  for  whom  it  were 
good  that  he  had  not  been  born.  In  many  besides  the 
last  of  these,  Judas  must  have  felt  himself  sternly 
because  faithfully  dealt  with.  And  the  exasperation 
which  always  results  from  rejected  warnings,  the  sense 
of  a  presence   utterly   repugnant  to    his  nature,    rgay 


9°  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

have  largely  contributed  to  his  final  and  disastrous 
collapse. 

In  the  life  of  Judas  there  was  a  mysterious  imperson- 
ation of  all  the  tendencies  of  godless  Judaism,  and  liis 
dreadful  personality  seems  to  express  the  whole  move- 
ment of  the  nation  which  rejected  Christ.  We  see  this 
in  the  powerful  attraction  felt  toward  Messiah  before 
His  aims  were  understood,  in  the  deadly  estrangement 
and  hostility  which  were  kindled  by  the  gentle  and 
self-effacing  ways  of  Jesus,  in  the  treachery  of  Judas 
in  the  garden  and  the  unscrupulous  wiliness  of  the 
priests  accusing  Christ  before  the  governor,  in  the 
fierce  intensity  of  rage  which  turned  his  hands  against 
himself  and  which  destroyed  the  nation  under  Titus. 
Nay  the  very  sordidness  which  made  a  bargain  for 
thirty  pieces  of  silver  has  ever  since  been  a  part  of  the 
popular  conception  of  the  race.  We  are  apt  to  think 
of  a  gross  love  of  money  as  inconsistent  with  intense 
passion,  but  in  Shylock,  the  compatriot  of  Judas, 
Shakespeare  combines  the  two. 

Contemplating  this  blighted  and  sinister  career,  the 
lesson  is  burnt  in  upon  the  conscience,  that  since  Judas 
by  transgression  fell,  no  place  in  the  Church  of  Christ 
can  render  any  man  secure.  And  since,  falling,  he  was 
openly  exposed,  none  may  flatter  himself  that  the  cause 
of  Christ  is  bound  up  with  his  reputation,  that  the 
mischief  must  needs  be  averted  which  his  downfall 
would  entail,  that  Providence  must  needs  avert  from 
him  the  natural  penalties  of  evil-doing.  Though  one 
was  as  the  signet  upon  the  Lord's  hand,  yet  was  he 
plucked  tlience.  Tiiere  is  no  securit}^  for  any  soul 
anywhere  except  where  love  and  trust  repose,  upon  the 
bosom  of  Christ. 

Now  if  this  be  true,  and  if  sin  and  scandal  may  con- 


Mark iii.  20-27.]     CHRIST  AND   BEELZEBUB.  91 

ceivably  penetrate  even  the  inmost  circle  of  the  chosen, 
how  great  an  error  is  it  to  break,  because  of  these  offences, 
the  unity  of  the  Church,  and  institute  some  new  commu- 
nion, purer  far  than  the  Churches  of  Corinth  and  Galatia, 
which  were  not  abandoned  but  reformed,  and  more 
impenetrable  to  corruption  than  the  little  group  of 
those  who  ate  and  drank  with  Jesus, 

CHRIST  AND   BEEIZEBUB. 

"  And  the  multitude  cometh  together  again,  so  that  they  could  not  so 
much  as  eat  bread.  And  when  his  friends  heard  it,  they  went  out  to 
lay  hold  on  Ilim  :  for  they  said,  He  is  beside  Himself.  And  the  scribes 
which  came  down  from  Jerusalem  said,  He  hath  Beelzebub,  and,  By  the 
prince  of  the  devils  casteth  He  out  the  devils.  And  He  called  them  unto 
Him,  and  said  unto  them  in  parables.  How  can  Satan  cast  out  Satan  ? 
And  if  a  kingdom  be  divided  against  itself,  that  kingdom  cannot  stand. 
And  if  an  house  be  divided  against  itself,  that  house  will  not  be  able  to 
stand.  And  if  Satan  hath  risen  up  against  himself,  and  is  divided,  he 
cannot  stand,  but  hath  an  end.  But  no  one  can  enter  into  the  house  of 
the  strong  wa«,  and  spoil  his  goods,  except  he  first  bind  the  strong  man  ; 
and  then  he  will  spoil  his  house." — Mark  iii.  20-27  (R.V.). 

While  Christ  was  upon  the  mountain  v/ith  His  more 
immediate  followers,  the  excitement  in  the  plain  did  not 
exhaust  itself;  for  even  when  He  entered  into  a  house, 
the  crowds  prevented  Him  and  His  followers  from 
taking  necessary  food.  And  when  His  friends  heard 
of  this,  they  judged  Him  as  men  who  profess  to  have 
learned  the  lesson  of  His  life  still  judge,  too  often,  all 
whose  devotion  carries  them  beyond  the  boundaries  of 
convention  and  of  convenience.  For  there  is  a  curious 
betrayal  of  the  popular  estimate  of  tins  world  and  the 
world  to  come,  in  the  honour  paid  to  those  who  cast 
away  life  in  battle,  or  sap  it  slov^^ly  in  pursuit  of  wealth 
or  honours,  and  the  contempt  expressed  for  those  who 
compromise  it  on  behalf  of  souls,  for  which  Christ  died. 


92  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

Whenever  by  exertion  in  any  unselfish  cause  health 
is  broken,  or  fortune  impaired,  or  influential  friends 
estranged,  the  follower  of  Christ  is  called  an  enthusiast, 
a  fanatic,  or  even  more  plainly  a  man  of  unsettled  mind. 
He  may  be  comforted  by  remembering  that  Jesus  was 
said  to  be  beside  Himself  when  teaching  and  healing 
left  Him  not  leisure  even  to  eat. 

To  this  incessant  and  exhausting  strain  upon  His 
energies  and  sympathies,  St.  Matthew  applies  the 
prophetic  words,  "  Himself  took  our  infirmities  and 
bare  our  diseases"  (viii.  17).  And  it  is  worth  while 
to  compare  with  that  passage  and  the  one  before  us, 
Renan's  assertion,  that  He  traversed  Galilee  "in  the 
midst  of  a  perpetual  fete,"  and  that  "joyous  Galilee 
celebrated  in  fetes  the  approach  of  the  well-beloved." 
{Vie  de  /.,  pp.  197,  202).  The  contrast  gives  a  fine 
illustration  of  the  inaccurate  shallowness  of  the  French- 
man's whole  conception  of  the  sacred  life. 

But  it  is  remarkable  that  while  His  friends  could  not 
3fet  believe  His  claims,  and  even  strove  to  lay  hold  on 
Him,  no  worse  suspicion  ever  darkened  the  mind  of 
those  who  knew  Him  best  than  that  His  reason  had 
been  disturbed.  Not  these  called  Him  gluttonous  and 
a  winebibber.  Not  these  blasphemed  His  motives. 
But  the  envoys  of  the  priestly  faction,  partisans  from 
Jerusalem,  were  ready  with  an  atrocious  suggestion. 
He  was  Himself  possessed  with  a  worse  devil,  before 
whom  the  lesser  ones  retired.  By  the  prince  of  the 
devils  He  cast  out  the  devils.  To  this  desperate 
evasion,  St.  Matthew  tells  us,  they  were  driven  by  a 
remarkable  miracle,  the  expulsion  of  a  blind  and  dumb 
spirit,  and  the  perfect  healing  of  his  victim.  Now  the 
literature  of  the  world  cannot  produce  invective  more 
terrible  than  Jesus  had  at  His  command  for  these  very 


Markiii.20-27.]     CHRIST  AND  BEELZEBUB.  93 


scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites.     This  is  what  gives 
majesty    to   His    endurance.     No    personal    insult,    no 
resentment  at  His  own  wrong,  could  ruffle  the  sublime 
composure  which,  upon  occasion,  gave  way  to  a  moral 
indignation    equally    sublime.     Calmly    He    calls    His 
traducers  to  look  Him  in  the  face,  and  appeals  to  their 
own  reason  against  their  blasphemy.     Neither  kingdom 
nor   house   divided   against   itself  can   stand.     And    if 
Satan  be  divided  against  himself  and  his  evil  works, 
undoing  the  miseries  and  opening  the  eyes  of  men,  his 
kingdom  has  an  end.     All  the  experience  of  the  world 
since    the    beginning  was   proof  enough    that   such    a 
suicide  of  evil  was  beyond  hope.     The  best  refutation 
of  the  notion  that  Satan  had  risen  up  against  himself 
and  was  divided  was  its  clear  expression.     But  what 
was    the    alternative  ?     If  Satan  were  not  committing 
suicide,  he  was  overpowered.     There  is  indeed  a  fitful 
temporary  reformation,  followed  by  a  deeper  fall,  which 
St.    Matthew    tells    us    that    Christ    compared    to    the 
cleansing  of  a  house  from  whence  the  evil  tenant  has 
capriciously  wandered  forth,  confident  that  it  is  still  his 
own,  and  prepared  to  return  to  it  with  seven  other  and 
worse  fiends.     A  little  observation  would  detect  such 
illusory  improvement.      But  the  case  before  them  was 
that  of  an  external  summons  reluctantly  obeyed.     It 
required    the  interference  of  a  stronger  power,  which 
could   only  be  the  power  of  God.     None  could   enter 
into  the  strong  man's  house,  and  spoil  his  goods,  unless 
the  strong  man  were  first  bound,   "and  then  he  will 
spoil  his    house."     No  more  distinct  assertion  of  the 
personality  of  evil  spirits  than   this  could  be  devised. 
Jesus  and  the  Pharisees  are  not  at  all  at  issue  upon  this 
point.      He  does  not  scout  as  a  baseless   superstition 
their  belief  that  evil  spirits  are  at  work  in  the  world. 


91-  GOSPEL   OF  ST.  MARK. 

But  Pie  declares  that  His  own  work  is  the  reversal  of 
theirs.  He  is  spoiling  the  strong  man,  whose  terrible 
ascendancy  over  the  possessed  resembles  the  dominion 
of  a  man  in  his  own  house,  among  chattels  without  a 
will. 

That  dominion  Christ  declares  that  only  a  stronger 
can  overcome,  and  His  argument  assumes  that  the 
stronger  must  needs  be  the  finger  of  God,  the  power  of 
God,  come  unto  them.  The  supernatural  exists  only 
above  us  and  below. 

Ages  have  passed  away  since  then.  Innumerable 
schemes  have  been  devised  for  the  expulsion  of  the 
evils  under  which  the  world  is  groaning,  and  if  they  are 
evils  of  merely  human  origin,  human  power  should 
suffice  for  their  removal.  The  march  of  civilisation 
is  sometimes  appealed  to.  But  what  blessings  has 
civilisation  without  Christ  ever  borne  to  savage  men  ? 
The  answer  is  painful :  rum,  gunpowder,  slavery, 
massacre,  small-pox,  pulmonary  consumption,  and  the 
extinction  of  their  races,  these  are  all  it  has  been 
able  to  bestow.  Education  is  sometimes  spoken  of,  as 
if  it  would  gradually  heal  our  passions  and  expel  vice 
and  misery  from  the  world,  as  if  the  worst  crimes  and 
most  flagrant  vices  of  our  time  were  peculiar  to  the 
ignorant  and  the  untaught,  as  if  no"  forger  had  ever 
learned  to  write.  And  sometimes  great  things  are 
promised  from  the  advance  of  science,  as  if  all  the 
works  of  dynamite  and  nitro-gl3'cerine,  were,  like  those 
of  the  Creator,  very  good. 

No  man  can  be  deceived  by  such  flattering  hopes, 
who  rightly  considers  the  volcanic  energies,  the  frantic 
rage,  the  unreasoning  all-sacrificing  recklessness  of 
human  passions  and  desires.  Surely  they  are  set  on 
fire  of  hell,  and  only  heaven  can  quench  the  conflagra- 


Mark  Hi.  28,  29.]  "  ETERNAL   SIN."  95 


lien.      jcsus  has   undertaken  to   do   this.      His  religion 
has  been  a  spell  of  power  among  the   degraded  and  the 
lost ;  and  when  we  come  to  consider  mankind  in  bulk, 
it  is  plain  enough  that  no  other  power  has  had  a  really 
reclaiming,  elevating  effect  upon  tribes  and  races.     In 
our  own  land,  what  great  or  lasting  work  of  reformation, 
or  even  of  temporal  benevolence,  has  ever  gone  forward 
without  the  blessing  of  religion  to  sustain  it  ?     Nowhere 
is  Satan  cast  out  but  by  the  Stronger  than  he,  binding 
him,   overmastering  the  evil  principle  which   tramples 
human    nature   down,    as  the  very   first   step  towards 
spoiling  his  goods.     The  spiritual  victory  must  precede 
the  removal  of  misery,  convulsion  and  disease.     There 
is   no   golden   age  for  the  world,  except   the  reign  of 
Christ. 

*' ETERNAL  SIN." 

"  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  All  their  sins  shall  be  forgiven  unto  the  sons 
of  men  and  their  blasphemies  wherewith  soever  they  shall  blaspheme  : 
but  whosoever  shall  blaspheme  agaiast  the  Holy  Spirit  hath  never  for- 
giveness, but  is  guilty  of  an  eternal  sin."-MARK  iii.  2S,  29  (R.V.). 

Having  first  shown  that  His  works  cannot  be  ascribed 
to  Satan,  Jesus  pi-oceeds  to  utter  the  most  terrible  of 
warnings',  because  they  said,  He  hath  an  unclean  spirit. 
"All  their  sins  shall  be  forgiven  unto  the  sons  of 
men,  and  their  blasphemies  .wherewith  soever  they  shall 
blaspheme,  but  whosoever  shall  blaspheme  against  the 
Holy  Spirit  hath  never  forgiveness,  but  is  guilty  of  an 

eternal  sin."  . 

What  is  the  nature  of  this  terrible  offence?  It  is 
plain  that  their  slanderous  attack  lay  in  the  direction  of 
it,  since  they  needed  warning ;  and  probable  that  they 
had  not  yet  fallen  into  the  aby;s,  because  they  could  still 
be  warned  against  it.     At  least,  if  the  guilt  of  some  had 


96  GOSPEL   OF  ST.   MARK. 

reached  that  depth,  there  must  have  been  otliers  in- 
volved in  their  offence  who  were  still  within  reach  of 
Christ's  solemn  admonition.  It  would  seem  therefore 
that  in  saying,  "  He  casteth  out  devils  by  Beelzebub 
.  .  .  He  hath  an  unclean  spirit,"  they  approached  the 
confines  and  doubtful  boundaries  between  that  blas- 
phemy against  the  Son  of  man  which  shall  be  forgiven, 
and  the  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Spirit  which  hath 
never  forgiveness. 

It  is  evident  also  that  any  crime  declared  by  Scrip- 
ture elsewhere  to  be  incurable,  must  be  identical  with 
this,  however  different  its  guise,  since  Jesus  plainly  and 
indisputably  announces  that  all  other  sins  but  this 
shall  be  forgiven. 

Now  there  are  several  other  passages  of  the  kind. 
St.  John  bade  his  disciples  to  pray,  when  any  saw  a 
brother  sinning  a  sin  not  unto  death,  "and  God  will 
give  him  life  for  them  that  sin  not  unto  death.  There 
is  a  sin  unto  death  :  not  concerning  this  do  I  say  that 
he  should  make  request"  (i  John  v.  i6).  It  is  idle  to 
suppose  that,  in  the  case  of  this  sin  unto  death,  the 
Apostle  "only  meant  to  leave  his  disciples  free  to  pray 
or  not  to  pray.  If  death  were  not  certain,  it  v/ould 
be  their  duty,  in  common  charity,  to  pray.  But  the 
sin  is  so  vaguely  and  even  mysteriously  referred  to, 
that  we  learn  little  more  from  that  passage  than  that  it 
was  an  overt  public  act,  of  which  other  men  could  so 
distinctly  judge  the  flagrancy  that  from  it  they  should 
withhold  their  prayers.  It  has  nothing  in  common 
with  those  unhappy  wanderings  of  thought  or  affection 
which  morbid  introspection  broods  upon,  until  it  pleads 
guilty  to  the  unpardonable  sin,  for  lapses  of  which  no 
other  could  take  cognizance.  And  in  Christ's  words, 
the  very  epithet,  blasphemy,  involves  the  same  public, 


Mark  Hi.  2S,  29.]  <■' ETERNAL    SIN."  97 

open  revolt  against  good.*  And  let  it  be  remembered 
that  every  other  sin  shall  be  forgiven. 

There  are  also  two  solemn  passages  in  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews  (vi.  4-6;  x.  26-31).  The  first  of  these 
declares  that  it  is  impossible  for  men  who  once  ex- 
perienced all  the  enlightening  and  sweet  influences  of 
God,  "  and  then  fell  away,"  to  be  renewed  again 
unto  repentance.  But  falling  upon  the  road  is  very 
different  from  thus  falling  away,  or  how  could  Peter 
have  been  recovered  ?  Their  fall  is  total  apostas}', 
"  they  crucify  to  themselves  the  Son  of  God  afresh,  and 
put  Him  to  an  open  shame."  They  are  not  fruitful 
land  in  which  tares  are  mingled  ;  they  bear  only  thorns 
and  thistles,  and  are  utterly  rejected.  And  so  in  the 
tenth  chapter,  they  who  sin  wilfully  are  men  who 
tread  under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  and  count  the  blood 
of  the  covenant  an  unholy  thing,  and  do  despite 
(insult)  unto  the  Spirit  of  grace. 

Again  we  read  that  in  the  last  time  there  will  arise 
an  enemy  of  God  so  unparalleled  that  his  movement 
will  outstrip  all  others,  and  be  "  the  falling  away,"  and 
he  himself  will  be  "  the  man  of  sin  "  and  "  the  son 
of  perdition,"  which  latter  title  he  only  shares  with  Is- 
cariot.  Now  the  essence  of  his  portentous  guilt  is  that 
''  he  opposeth  and  exalteth  himself  against  all  that  is 
called  God  or  that  is  worshipped":  it  is  a  monstrous 
egotism,  "  setting  himself  forth  as  God,"  and  such  a 
hatred  of  restraint  as  makes  him  "the  lawless  one" 
(2  Thess.  ii.  3-10). 


*  "  Theology  would  have  been  spared  much  trouble  concerning  this 
passage,  and  an.xious  timid  souls  unspe.ikable  an'4ui■^l^,  if  men  dad 
adhered  strictly  to  Christ's  own  expression.  For  it  is  not  a  sin  against 
the  Holy  Ghost  which  is  here  spoken  of,  but  blaspluiny  against  the 
Holy  Ghost." — Lange  '^  Life  of  Christ,''  vol.  ii.  p.  269. 

7 


98  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

So  far  as  these  passages  are  at  all  definite  in  their 
descriptions,  they  are  entirely  harmonious.  They  de- 
scribe no  sin  of  the  flesh,  of  impulse,  frailty  or  passion, 
nor  yet  a  spirituil  lapse  of  an  unguarded  hour,  of  rash 
speculation,  of  erring  or  misled  opinion.  They  speak 
not  of  sincere  failure  to  accept  Christ's  doctrine  or  to 
recognise  His  commission,  even  though  it  breathe  out 
threats  and  slaughters.  They  do  not  even  apply  to  the 
dreadful  sin  of  denying  Christ  in  terror,  though  one 
should  curse  and  swear,  saying,  I  know  not  the  man. 
They  speak  of  a  deliberate  and  conscious  rejection  of 
good  and  choice  of  evil,  of  the  wilful  aversion  of  the 
soul  from  sacred  influences,  the  public  denial  and 
trampling  under  foot  of  Christ,  the  opposing  of  all  that 
is  called  God. 

And  a  comparison  of  these  passages  enables  us  to 
understand  why  this  sin  never  can  be  pardoned.  It  is 
because  good  itself  has  become  the  food  and  fuel  of 
its  wickedness,  stirring  up  its  opposition,  calling  out 
its  rage,  that  the  apostate  cannot  be  renewed  again 
unto  repentance.  The  sin  is  rather  indomitable  than 
unpardonable :  it  has  become  part  of  the  sinner's 
personality  ;  it  is  incurable,  an  eternal  sin. 

Here  is  nothing  to  alarm  any  mourner  whose  con- 
trition proves  that  it  has  actually  been  possible  to 
enew  him  unto  repentance.  No  penitent  has  ever  yet 
been  rejected  for  this  guilt,  for  no  penitent  has  ever 
been  thus  guilty. 

And  this  being  so,  here  is  the  strongest  possible 
encouragement  for  all  who  desire  mercy.  Every  other 
sin,  every  other  blasphemy  shall  be  forgiven.  Heaven 
does  not  reject  the  vilest  whom  the  world  hisses  at, 
the  most  desperate  and  bloodstained  whose  life  the 
world  exacts  in  vengeance  for  his  outrages.     None  is 


Markiii.  3I-35-]      THE   FRIENDS   OF  JESUS.  99 

lost  but  the  hard  and  impenitent  heart  which  treasures 
up  for  itseh'  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath. 


THE    FRIENDS    OF  JESUS. 

"And  tliere  come  His  mother  and  His  brelhren  ;  and,  standing  with- 
out, they  sent  iinio  Him,  calling  Him.  And  a  multitude  was  sitting 
about  Him  ;  and  they  say  unto  Him,  Behold,  Tliy  mother  and  Thy 
brelhren  without  seelv  for  Thee.  And  He  ansvvereth  them,  and  saith, 
Who  is  INIy  mother  and  My  breihren?  And  looking  round  on  them 
which  sat  round  about  Him  He  ssith,  Behold  My  mother  and  My 
brethren  !  For  whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of  God,  the  same  is  My 
brother,  and  sister,  and  mother." — JMAliK  iii.  31-35  (R.  V.). 

We  have  lately  read  that  the  relatives  of  Jesus,  hearing 
of  His  self-sacrificing  devotion,  sought  to  lay  hold  on 
Him,  because  they  said.  He  is  beside  Himself.  Their 
concern  would  not  be  lightened  upon  hearing  of  His 
rupture  with  the  chiefs  of  their  religion  and  their  nation. 
And  so  it  was,  that  while  a  multitude  hung  upon  His 
lips,  some  unsyrapathizing  critic,  or  perhaps  some  hostile 
scribe,  interrupted  Him  with  their  message.  They 
desired  to  speak  with  Him,  possibly  with  rude  inten- 
tions, while  in  any  case,  to  grant  their  wish  might 
easily  have  led  to  a  painful  altercation,  offending  weak 
disciples,  and  furnishing  a  scandal  to  His  eager  foes. 

Their  interference  must  have  caused  the  Lord  a 
bitter  pang.  It  was  sad  that  they  were  not  among  His 
hearers,  but  worse  that  they  should  seek  to  mar  His 
work.  To  Jesus,  endowed  with  every  innocent  human 
instinct,  worn  with  labour  and  aware  of  gathering 
perils,  they  were  an  offence  of  the  same  kind  as 
Peter  made  himself  when  he  became  the  mouthpiece  of 
the  tempter.  For  their  own  sakes,  whose  faith  He  was 
vet  to  win,  it  v/as  needful  to  be  ver}'  firm.  Moreover, 
He  was  soon  to  make  it  a  law  of  the  kingdom  that  men 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 


should  be  ready  for  His  sake  to  leave  brethren,  or 
sisters,  or  mother,  and  in  so  doing  should  receive  back 
all  these  a  hundredfold  in  the  present  time  (x.  29,  30). 
To  this  law  it  was  now  His  own  duty  to  conform. 
Yet  it  was  impossible  for  Jesus  to  be  harsh  and  stern 
to  a  group  of  relatives  with  His  mother  in  the  midst  of 
them  ;  and  it  would  be  a  hard  problem  for  the  finest 
dramatic  genius  to  reconcile  the  conflicting  claims  of 
the  emergency,  fidelity  to  God  and  the  cause,  a  striking 
■  rebuke  to  the  officious  interference  of  His  kinsfolk,  and 
a  full  and  affectionate  recognition  of  the  relationship 
which  could  not  make  Him  swerve.  How  shall  He 
"leave"  His  mother  and  his  brethren,  and  yet  not 
deny  His  heart  ?  How  shall  He  be  strong  without 
being  harsh  ? 

Jesus  reconciles  all  the  conditions  of  the  problem, 
as  pointing  to  His  attentive  hearers.  He  pronounces 
these  to  be  His  true  relatives,  but  yet  finds  no  warmer 
term  to  express  what  He  feels  for  them  than  the  dear 
names  of  mother,  sisters,  brethren. 

Observers  whose  souls  were  not  warmed  as  He 
spoke,  may  have  supposed  that  it  was  cold  indifference 
to  the  calls  of  nature  which  allowed  His  mother  and 
brethren  to  stand  without.  In  truth,  it  was  not  that 
He  denied  the  claims  of  the  flesh,  but  that  He  was 
sensitive  to  other,  subtler,  profounder  claims  of  the 
spirit  and  spiritual  kinship.  He  would  not  carelessly 
wound  a  mother's  or  a  brother's  heart,  but  the  life 
Divine  had  also  its  fellowships  and  its  affinities,  and 
still  less  could  He  throv/  these  aside.  No  cold  sense  of 
duty  detains  Him  with  His  congregation  while  affection 
seeks  Him  in  the  vestibule  ;  no,  it  is  a  burning  love, 
the  love  of  a  brother  or  even  of  a  son,  which  binds 
Him  to  His  people. 


Markiii.  3I-3S-]      THE   FRIENDS   OF  JESUS.  roi 

Happy  are  the}^  who  are  in  such  a  case.  And  Jesus 
gives  us  a  ready  means  of  knowing  whether  we  are 
among  those  whom  He  so  wonderfully  condescends  to 
love.  "  Whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of  My  Father 
which  is  in  heaven."  Feelings  may  ebb,  and  self- 
confidence  may  be  shaken,  but  obedience  depends  not 
upon  excitement,  and  may  be  rendered  by  a  breaking 
heart. 

It  is  important  to  observe  that  this  saying  declares 
that  obedience  does  not  earn  kinship  ;  but  only  proves 
it,  as  the  fruit  proves  the  tree.  Kinship  must  go 
before  acceptable  service  ;  none  can  do  the  will  of  the 
Father  who  is  not  already  the  kinsman  of  Jesus,  for 
He  says.  Whosoever  shall  {Jicrcafia-)  do  the  will  of  My 
Father,  the  same  is  (already)  My  brother  and  sister  and 
mother.  There  are  men  who  would  fain  reverse  the 
process,  and  do  God's  will  in  order  to  merit  the 
brotherhood  of  Jesus.  They  would  drill  themselves 
and  win  battles  for  Him,  in  order  to  be  enrolled  among 
His  soldiers.  They  would  accept  the  gospel  invitation 
as  soon  as  they  refute  the  gospel  warnings  that  without 
Him  they  can  do  nothing,  and  that  they  need  the 
creation  of  a  new  heart  and  the  renewal  of  a  right  spirit 
within  them.  But  when  homage  was  offered  to  Jesus  as 
a  Divine  teacher  and  no  more,  He  rejoined,  Teaching  is 
not  what  is  required  :  holiness  does  not  result  from  mere 
enlightenment  :  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  except 
a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of 
God.  Because  the  new  birth  is  the  condition  of  all 
spiritual  power  and  energy,  it  follows  that  if  any  man 
shall  henceforth  do  God's  will,  he  must  already  be  of 
the  family  of  Christ. 

Men  may  avoid  evil  through  self-respect,  from  early 
training  and   restraints  of   conscience,   from    temporal 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 


prudence  or  dread  of  the  future.  And  this  is  virtuous 
only  as  the  paying  of  a  fire-insurance  is  so.  But 
secondary  motives  will  never  lift  any  man  so  high  as 
to  satisfy  this  sublime  standard,  the  doing  of  the  will 
of  the  Father.  That  can  only  be  attained,  like  all  true 
and  glorious  service  in  every  cause,  by  the  heart,  by 
enthusiasm,  by  love.  And  Jesus  was  bound  to  all  who 
loved  His  P'ather  by  as  strong  a  cord  as  united  His 
perfect  heart  with  brother  and  sister  and  mother. 

But  as  there  is  no  true  obedience  without  relationship, 
so  is  there  no  true  relationship  unfoUowed  by  obe- 
dience. Christ  was  not  content  to  say.  Whoso  doeth 
God's  will  is  My  kinsman :  He  asked.  Who  is  My 
kinsman  ?  and  gave  this  as  an  exhaustive  reply.  He 
has  none  other.  Every  sheep  in  His  fold  hears  His 
voice  and  follows  Him.  We  may  feel  keen  emotions  as 
we  listen  to  passionate  declamations,  or  kneel  in  an 
excited  prayer-meeting,  or  bear  our  part  in  an  imposing 
ritual ;  we  may  be  moved  to  tears  by  thinking  of  ihi^ 
dupes  of  whatever  heterodoxy  we  most  condemn ; 
tender  and  soft  emotions  may  be  stirred  in  our  bosom 
by  the  story  of  the  perfect  life  and  Divine  death  of 
Jesus  ;  and  yet  we  may  be  as  far  from  a  renewed 
heart  as  was  that  ancient  tyrant  from  genuine  com- 
passion, who  wept  over  the  brevity  of  the  lives  of  the 
soldiers  whom  he  sent  into  a  wanton  war. 

Mere  feeling  is  not  life.  It  moves  truly  ;  but  only 
as  a  balloon  moves,  rising  by  virtue  of  its  emptiness, 
driven  about  by  every  blast  that  veers,  and  sinking 
when  its  inflation  is  at  an  end.  But  mark  the  living- 
creature  poised  on  widespread  wings  ;  it  has  a  will,  an 
inte  Uion,  and  an  initiative,  and  as  long  as  its  life  is 
healthy  and  unenslaved,  it  moves  at  its  own  good 
pleasure.     How  shall    I    know  whether    or   not    I   an\ 


Markiii.  3I-35-]      THE   FRIENDS   OF  JESUS.  ,103 

a  true  kinsman  of  the  Lord  ?  By  seeing  whether 
I  advance,  whether  I  worl<,  whether  1  have  real  and 
practical  zeal  and  love,  or  whether  I  have  grown  cold, 
and  make  more  allowance  for  the  flesh  than  I  used  to 
do,  and  expect  less  from  the  spirit.  Obedience  does 
not  produce  grace.  But  it  proves  it,  for  we  can  no 
more  bear  fruit  except  we  abide  in  Christ,  than  the 
branch  that  does  not  abide  in  the  vine. 

Lastly,  we  observe  the  individual  love,  the  personal 
affection  of  Christ  for  each  of  His  people.  There  is 
a  love  for  masses  of  men  and  philanthropic  causes, 
which  does  not  much  observe  the  men  v/ho  compose 
the  masses,  and  upon  whom  the  causes  depend.  Thus, 
one  may  love  his  country,  and  rejoice  when  her 
flag  advances,  without  much  care  for  any  soldier  who 
has  been  shot  down,  or  has  won  promotion.  And  so 
we  think  of  Africa  or  India,  without  really  feeling 
much  about  the  individual  Egyptian  or  Hindoo.  Who 
can  discriminate  and  feel  for  each  one  of  the  mul- 
titudes included  in  such  a  word  as  Want,  or  Sickness, 
or  Heathenism  ?  And  judging  by  our  own  frailty,  we 
are  led  to  think  that  Christ's  love  can  mean  but  little 
beyond  this.  As  a  statesman  who  loves  the  nation 
may  be  said,  in  some  vague  way,  to  love  and  care  for 
me,  so  people  think  of  Christ  as  loving  and  pitying 
us  because  we  are  items  in  the  race  He  loves.  But 
He  has  eyes  and  a  heart,  not  only  for  all,  but  for 
each  one.  Looking  down  the  shadowy  vista  of  the 
generations,  every  sigh,  every  broken  heart,  every 
blasphemy,  is  a  separate  pang  to  His  all-embracing 
heart.  "  Before  that  Philip  called  thee,  when  thou 
wast  under  the  fig-tree,  I  saw  thee,^'  lonely,  unconscious, 
undistinguished  drop  in  the  tide  of  life,  one  leaf  among 
the  myriads  which  rustle  and  fall  in  the  vast  forest  of 


I04  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

existence.  St.  Paul  speaks  trul}'  of  Christ  "Who  loved 
me,  and  gave  Himself  for  me."  He  shall  bring  every 
secret  sin  to  judgment,  and  shall  we  so  far  wrong  Piim 
as  to  think  His  justice  more  searching,  more  penetra- 
ting, more  individualizing  than  His  love,  His  memory 
than  His  heart  ?  It  is  not  so.  The  love  He  offers 
adapts  itself  to  every  age  and  sex  :  it  distinguishes 
brother  from  sister,  and  sister  again  from  mother.  It 
is  mindful  of  "  the  least  of  these  My  brethren."  But 
it  names  no  Father  except  One. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE   PARABLES. 

"  And  nga'm  He  began  to  teach  by  the  sea  side.  And  there  is 
gathered  unto  Him  a  very  great  multitude,  so  that  He  entered  into  a 
boat,  and  sat  in  the  sea ;  aod  all  the  multitude  were  by  the  sea  on  the 
land.  And  He  taught  them  many  things  in  parables,  and  said  unto 
them  in  His  teaching.  .  .   . 

"  And  when  He  was  alone,  they  that  were  about  Him  with  the 
twelve  asked  of  Him  the  parables.  And  He  said  unto  them,  Unto  you 
is  given  the  mystery  of  the  kingdom  of  God  :  but  unto  them  that  are 
without,  all  things  are  done  in  parables  :  that  seeing  they  may  see,  and 
not  perceive;  and  heaiing  they  may  hear,  and  not  understand  ;  lest 
haply  they  should  turn  again,  and  it  should  be  forgiven  them.  And 
He  saith  unto  them,  Know  ye  not  this  parable?  and  how  shall  ye  know 
all  the  parables?  "—Mark  iv.  i,  2,  10-13  (R.V.). 

S  opposition  deepened,  and  to  a  vulgar  ambition, 
the  temptation  to  retain  disciples  by  all  means 
would  have  become  greater,  Jesus  began  to  teach  in 
parables.  We  know  that  He  had  not  hitherto  done  so, 
both  by  the  surprise  of  the  Tv/elve,  and  by  the  necessity 
which  He  found,  of  giving  them  a  clue  to  the  meaning 
of  such  teachings,  and  so  to  "all  the  parables."  His 
own  ought  to  have  understood.  But  He  was  merciful 
to  the  weakness  which  confessed  its  failure  and  asked 
for  instruction. 

And  yet  He  foresaw  that  they  which  were  without 
would  discern  no  spiritual  meaning  in  such  discourse. 
It  was  to  have,  at  the  same  time,   a  revealing  and  a 


io6  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK". 

baffling  euect,  and  therefore  it  was  peculiarly  suitable 
for  the  purposes  of  a  Teacher  watched  by  vindictive 
foes.  Thus,  when  cross-examined  about  His  author- 
ity by  men  who  themselves  professed  to  know  not 
whence  John's  baptism  was,  He  could  refuse  to  be 
entrapped,  and  yet  tell  of  One  Who  sent  His  own 
Son,  His  Beloved,  to  receive  the  fruit  of  the  vine- 
yard. 

This  diverse  effect  is  derived  from  the  very  nature  of 
the  parables  of  Jesus.  They  are  not,  like  some  in  the 
Old  Testament,  mere  fables,  in  which  things  occur  that 
never  happen  in  real  life.  Jotham's  trees  seeking  a 
king,  are  as  incredible  as  iEsop's  fox  leaping  for  grapes. 
But  Jesus  never  uttered  a  parable  which  was  not  true 
to  nature,  the  kind  of  thing  which  one  expects  to 
happen.  We  cannot  say  that  a  rich  man  in  hell  actually 
spoke  to  Abraham  in  heaven.  But  if  he  could  do  so,  of 
which  we  are  not  competent  to  judge,  we  can  well  be- 
lieve that  he  would  have  spoken  just  w^hat  we  read,  and 
that  his  pathetic  cry,  "  Father  Abraham,"  would  have 
been  as  gently  answered,  "  Son,  remember."  There  is 
no  ferocity  in  the  skies  ;  neither  has  the  lost  soul 
become  a  fiend.  Everything  commends  itself  to  our 
judgment.  And  therefore  the  story  not  only  illustrates, 
but  appeals,  enforces,  almost  proves. 

God  in  nature  does  not  arrange  that  all  seeds  should 
grow  :  men  have  patience  while  the  germ  slowly  fructi- 
fies, they  know  not  how ;  in  all  things  but  religion  such 
sacrifices  are  made,  that  the  merchant  sells  all  to  buy 
one  goodly  pearl ;  an  earthly  father  kisses  his  repentant 
prodigal  ;  and  even  a  Samaritan  can  be  neighbour  to  a 
Jevv  in  his  extremity.  So  the  world  is  constructed  : 
such  is  even  the  fallen  human  he:irt.  Is  it  not  reason- 
able to   believe   that   the   same   principles  will    extend 


Markiv.i,2;io-i3.]        THE  PARABLES.  107 

farther;  that  as  God  governs  the  world  of  matter  so  He 
may  govern  the  world  of  spirits,  and  that  human  help- 
fulness and  clemency  will  not  outrun  the  graces  of  the 

Giver  of  all  good  ?  ,^^i;^.rl 

This  is  the  famous  argument  from  analogy,  applied 
long  before  the  time  of  Butler,  to  purposes  farther- 
reaching  than  his.  But  there  is  this  remarkable 
difference,  that  the  analogy  is  never  pressed,  men  aie 
left  to  discover  it  for  themselves,  or  at  least,  to  ask  tor 
an  explanation,  because  they  are  conscious  of  some- 
thing beyond  the  tale,  something  spiritual,  something 
which  they  fain  would  understand.  _ 

Now  this  difference  is  not  a  mannerism  ;  it  is  intended. 
Butler  pressed    home    his   analogies    because    he    was 
striving  to  silence  gainsayers.      His  Lord  and  ours  left 
Ln  to'discern  or  to  be  blind,  because  they  had  already 
opportunity  to  become  His  disciples  if  they  would     The 
faithful  among  them  ought  to  be  conscious,  or  at  least 
they  should  now  become  conscious,  of  the  God  of  grace 
in  the  God   of  nature.     To   them  the  world  should  be 
eloquent   of  the  Father's  mind.     They  should  indeed 
find   tongues  in   trees,   books  in   the   running   brooks, 
sermons  in  stones.     He  spoke  to  the  sensitive  mind 
which    would    understand    Him,    as  a  wife  reads   her 
husband's  secret  joys  and  sorrows  by  signs  no  stranger 
can  understand.      Even  if  she  fails  to  comprehend,  she 
knows  there  is  something  to  ask  about.    And  thus,  vvl.en 
they  were  alone,  the  Twelve  asked  Him  of  the  parables. 
When  they  were  instructed,  they  gained_  not  only  the 
moral  lesson,  and  the  sweet  pastoral  narrative,  the  id3'llic 
picture  which  conveyed  it,  but  also  the  assurance  im- 
oarted  by  recognizing  the  same   mind  ot  God  which  is 
i-evealed  in  His  world,  or  justiRed  by  the  best  impulses 
of  humanity.      Therefore,    no   parable    is   sensational 


io8  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

It  cannot  root  itself  in  the  exceptional,  the  abnormal 
events  on  which  men  do  not  reckon,  which  come  upon 
us  with  a  shock.  For  we  do  not  argue  from  these  to 
daily  life. 

But  while  this  mode  of  teaching  was  profitable  to 
His  disciples,  and  protected  Hirn  against  His  foes,  it 
had  formidable  consequences  for  the  frivolous  empty 
followers  after  a  sign.  Because  they  were  such  they 
could  only  find  frivolity  and  lightness  in  these  stories  ; 
the  deeper  meaning  lay  farther  below  the  surface  than 
such  eyes  could  pierce.  Thus  the  light  they  had  abused 
was  taken  from  them.  And  Jesus  explained  to  His 
disciples  that,  in  acting  thus,  He  pursued  the  fixed  rule 
of  God.  The  worst  penalty  of  vice  is  that  it  loses  the 
knowledge  of  virtue,  and  of  levity  that  it  cannot  ap- 
preciate seriousness.  He  taught  in  parables,  as  Isaiah 
prophesied,  "  that  seeing  they  may  see,  and  not  per- 
ceive, and  hearing  they  may  hear,  and  not  understand; 
lest  haply  they  should  turn  again  and  it  should  be 
forgiven  them."  These  last  words  prove  how  completely 
penal,  how  free  from  all  caprice,  was  this  terrible 
decision  of  our  gentle  Lord,  that  precautions  must  be 
taken  against  evasion  of  the  consequences  of  crime. 
But  it  is  a  warning  by  no  m.eans  unique.  He  said,  "The 
things  which  make  for  thy  peace  .  .  .  are  hid  from  thine 
eyes"  (Luke  xix.  42).  And  St.  Paul  said,  "If  our 
gospel  is  veiled,  it  is  veiled  in  them  that  are  perishing"; 
and  still  more  to  the  point,  "The  natural  man  receiveth 
not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  for  th.ey  are  foolish- 
ness unto  him ;  and  he  cannot  know  them,  because 
they  are  spiritually  discerned "  (2  Cor.  iv.  3  ;  I  Cor. 
ii.  14).  To  this  law  Christ,  in  speaking  by  parables, 
was  conscious  that  He  conformed. 

But   nov/    let  it  be    observed    how    completely  this 


Mark  iv.  3-9,  I4-20.]  THE   SOWER.  109 


mode  of  teaching  suited  our  Lord's  habit  of  mind.  If 
men  could  finally  rid  themselves  of  His  Divine  claim, 
they  would  at  once  recognise  the  greatest  of  the  sages  ; 
and  they  would  also  find  in  Him  the  sunniest,  sweetest 
and  most  accurate  discernment  of  nature,  and  its  more 
quiet  beauties,  that  ever  became  a  vehicle  for  moral 
teaching.  The  sun  and  rain  bestowed  on  the  evil  and 
the  good,  the  fountain  and  the  trees  v/hich  regulate  the 
waters  and  the  fruit,  the  death  of  the  seed  by  which 
it  buys  its  increase,  the  provision  for  bird  and  blossom 
without  anxiety  of  theirs,  the  preference  for  a  lily  over 
Solomon's  gorgeous  robes,  the  meaning  of  a  red  sky 
at  sunrise  and  sunset,  the  hen  gathering  her  chickens 
under  her  wdng,  the  vine  and  its  branches,  the  sheep 
and  their  shepherd,  the  lightning  seen  over  all  the 
sky,  every  one  of  these  needed  only  to  be  re-set  and 
it  would  have  become  a  parable. 

All  the  Gospels,  including  the  fourth,  are  full  of 
proofs  of  this  rich  and  attractive  endowment,  this 
warm  sympathy  with  nature  ;  and  this  fact  is  among 
the  evidences  that  they  all  drew  the  same  character, 
and  drew  it  faithfully. 


THE  SOWER. 

"  Hearken  :  Behold  the  sower  went  forth  to  sow  :  and  it  came  to 
pass,  as  he  sowed,  some  seed  fell  by  the  way  side,  and  the  birds  came 
and  'devoured  it.  And  other  fell  on  the  rocky  ground,  where  it  had 
not  much  earth  ;  and  straightway  it  sprang  up,  because  it  had  no  deep- 
ness of  earth  :  and  when  the  sun  was  risen,  it  was  scorched ;  and  because 
it  had  no  root,  it  withered  away.  And  other  fell  among  the  thorns, 
and  the  thorns  grew  up,  and  choked  it,  and  it  yielded  no  fruit.  And 
others  fell  into  the  good  ground,  and  yielded  fruit,  growing  up  and 
increasing  ;  and  brought  forth,  thirtyfold,  and  si.Ktyfold.  and  a  hua- 
drediold.     And  He  said.  Who  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  Idm  hear.    .    .    . 

"  The  sower  soweththe  word.     And  these  are  they  by  the  way  side, 


COS  TEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 


where  the  word  is  sown  ;  and  wlien  they  have  heard,  straightway  cometh 
Saian.  and  laketli  away  the  word  which  hath  been  s-own  in  them.  And 
these  in  like  manner  are  they  that  are  sown  upon  the  rocky  places, 
who,  when  they  h.ive  heard  the  word,  straightway  receive  it  wi'h  joy; 
and  ihey  have  no  root  in  themselves,  but  endure  for  a  while  ;  then, 
when  tribulation  or  persecution  ariseth  btcause  of  the  word,  straightway 
ihcy  stumble.  And  otheis  are  they  that  are  sown  among  the  thorns; 
ihes-  are  they  that  have  heard  the  word,  and  the  cares  of  the  world,  and 
the  deceitlulness  of  riches,  and  the  lusts  of  other  things  entering  in, 
choke  the  word,  and  it  becometh  unfruitful.  And  those  are  they  that 
were  sown  upon  the  good  ground  ;  such  as  hear  the  w-ord,  and  accept 
it,  and  beariiuit,  thirtyfold,  and  sixtyfuld,  and  a  hundredfold." — Mark 
iv.  3-9.  14-20  (R.V.). 


"  Hearken"  Jesus  said;  willing  to  caution  men  against 
the  danger  of  slighting  His  simple  story,  and  to  impress 
on  them  that  it  conveyed  more  than  met  their  ears. 
In  so  doing  He  protested  in  advance  against  fatalistic 
abuses  of  the  parable,  as  if  we  were  already  doomed 
to  be  hard,  or  shallow,  or  thorny,  or  fruitful  soil.  And 
at  the  close  He  brought  out  still  more  clearly  His 
protest  against  such  doctrine,  by  impressing  upon  all, 
that  if  the  vitalising  seed  were  the  imparted  word,  it 
was  their  part  to  receive  and  treasure  it.  Indolence 
and  shallowness  must  fail  to  bear  fruit  :  that  is  the 
essential  doctrine  of  the  parable  ;  but  it  is  not  neces- 
sary that  we  should  remain  indolent  or  shallow  :  "  He 
that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear." 

And  when  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  reproduces 
the  image  of  land  which  bringeth  forth  thorns  and 
thistles,  our  Revised  Version  rightly  brings  out  the 
fact,  on  which  indeed  the  whole  exhortation  depends, 
that  the  saine  piece  of  land  might  have  borne  herbs 
meet  for  these  for  whose  sake  it  is  tilled  (vi.  7). 

Having  said  "  Heai"ken,"  Jesus  added,  "Behold." 
It  has  been  rightly  inferred  that  the  scene  was  before 


Markiv.3-9.  I4-20.]  THE  SOWER. 


their  e3^es.  Very  possibly  some  such  process  was 
within  sight  of  the  shore  on  which  they  were  gathered; 
but  in  any  case,  a  process  was  visible,  if  they  would 
but  see,  of  which  the  tilling  of  the  ground  was  only  a 
type.  A  nobler  seed  was  being  scattered  for  a  vaster 
harvest,  and  it  v/as  no  common  labourer,  but  the  true 
sower,  who  went  forth  to  sow.  "  The  sower  soweth 
the  word."  But  who  v/as  he  ?  St.  Matthew  tells  us 
"the  sower  is  tlie  Son  of  man,"  and  whether  the  vvords 
were  expressly  uttered,  or  only  implied,  as  the  silence 
of  St.  Mark  and  St.  Luke  might  possibly  suggest,  it  is 
clear  tliat  none  of  His  disciples  could  mistake  His 
meaning.  Ages  have  passed  and  He  is  the  sower  still, 
by  whatever  instrument  He  v/orks,  for  we  are  God's 
husbandry  as  well  as  God's  building.  And  the  seed  is 
the  Word  of  God,  so  strangely  able  to  work  below  the 
surface  of  human  life,  invisible  at  first,  yet  vital,  and 
grasping  from  within  and  witliout,  from  secret  thoughts 
and  from  circumstances,  as  from  the  chemical  ingreditnts 
of  the  soil  and  from  the  sunshine  and  the  shower,  all 
that  will  contiibute  to  its  growth,  until  the  field  itself 
is  assimilated,  spread  from  end  to  end  with  waving 
ears,  a  corn-field  now.  This  is  why  Jesus  in  His 
second  parable  did  not  any  longer  say  "the  seed  is 
the  word,"  but  "  the  good  seed  are  the  sons  of  the 
kingdom"  (Matt.  xiii.  38).  The  word  planted  was  able 
to  identify  itself  with  the  heart. 

And  this  seed,  the  Word  of  God,  is  sown  broadcast 
as  all  our  opportunities  are  given.  A  ta'ent  was  not 
refused  to  him  who  buried  it.  Judas  was  an  apostle. 
Men  may  receive  the  grace  of  God  in  vain,  and  this  in 
more  ways  than  one.  On  some  it  produces  no  vital 
im.pression  whatever  ;  it  lies  on  the  surface  of  a  mind 
which  the  feet  of  earthly  interests  have  trodden  hard. 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 


There  is  no  chance  for  it  to  expand,  to  begin  its  opera- 
tion by  sending  out  the  smallest  tendrils  to  grasp,  to 
appropriate  anything,  to  take  root.  And  it  may  well  be 
doubted  whether  any  soul,  wholly  indifferent  to  religious 
truth,  ever  retained  even  its  theoretic  knowledge  long. 
The  foolish  heart  is  darkened.  The  fowls  of  the  air 
catch  away  for  ever  the  priceless  seed  of  eternity. 
Now  it  is  of  great  importance  to  observe  how  Jesus 
explained  this  calamity.  We  should  probably  have 
spoken  of  forgetfulness,  the  fading  away  of  neglected 
impressions,  or  at  most  of  some  judicial  act  of  provi- 
dence hiding  the  truth  from  the  careless.  But  Jesus 
said,  "  straightway  cometh  Satan  and  taketh  away  the 
word  which  hath  been  sown  in  them."  No  person 
can  fairly  explain  this  text  away,  as  men  have  striven 
to  explain  Christ's  language  to  the  demoniacs,  by 
any  theory  of  the  use  of  popular  language,  or  the 
toleration  of  harmless  notions.  The  introduction  of 
Satan  into  this  parable  is  unexpected  and  uncalled  for 
by  any  demand  save  one,  the  necessity  of  telling  all 
the  truth.  It  is  true  therefore  that  an  active  and 
deadly  enemy  of  souls  is  at  work  to  quicken  the 
mischief  which  neglect  and  indifference  would  them- 
selves produce,  that  evil  processes  are  helped  from 
beneath  as  truly  as  good  ones  from  above ;  that  the 
seed  wh-ich  is  left  to-day  upon  the  surface  may  be 
maliciously  taken  thence  long  before  it  would  have 
perished  by  natural  decay ;  that  men  cannot  reckon 
upon  stopping  short  in  their  contempt  of  grace,  since 
what  they  neglect  the  devil  snatches  quite  away  from 
them.  And  as  seed  is  only  safe  from  fowls  when 
buried  in  the  soil,  so  is  the  word  of  life  only  safe 
against  the  rapacity  of  hell  when  it  has  sunk  down 
into  our  hearts. 


Mark  iv.  3-9,  I4-20.]  THE   SOWER.  I13 

In  the  story  of  the  early  Church,  St.  Paul  sowed 
upon  such  ground  as  this  in  Athens.  Men  who 
spent  their  time  in  the  pursuit  of  artistic  and  cultivated 
novelties,  in  hearing  and  telling  some  new  thing, 
mocked  the  gospel,  or  at  best  proposed  to  hear  its 
preacher  yet  again.  How  long  did  such  a  purpose 
last? 

But  there  are  other  dangers  to  dread,  besides  abso- 
lute indifference  to  truth.  And  the  first  of  these  is  a 
too  shallow  and  easy  acquiescence.  The  message  of 
salvation  is  designed  to  affect  the  whole  of  human  life 
profoundly.  It  comes  to  bind  a  strong  man  armed,  it 
summons  easy  and  indifferent  hearts  to  wrestle  against 
spiritual  foes,  to  crucify  the  flesh,  to  die  daily.  On 
these  conditions  it  offers  the  noblest  blessings.  But 
the  conditions  are  grave  and  sobering.  If  one  hears 
them  without  solemn  and  earnest  searching  of  heart, 
he  has  only,  at  the  best,  apprehended  half  the  message. 
Christ  has  warned  us  that  we  cannot  build  a  tower 
without  sitting  down  to  count  our  means,  nor  fight 
a  hostile  king  without  reckoning  the  prospects  of 
invasion.  And  it  is  very  striking  to  compare  the 
gushing  and  impulsive  sensationalism  of  some  modern 
schools,  with  the  deliberate  and  circumspect  action  of 
St.  Paul,  even  after  God  had  been  pleased  miraculously 
to  reveal  His  Son  in  him.  He  went  into  seclusion. 
He  returned  to  Damascus  to  his  first  instructor.  Four- 
teen years  afterwards  he  deliberately  laid  his  gospel 
before  the  Apostles,  lest  by  any  means  he  should  be 
running  or  had  run  in  vain.  Such  is  the  action  of  one 
penetrated  with  a  sense  of  reality  and  responsibility  in 
his  decision  ;  it  is  not  the  action  likely  to  result  from 
teaching  men  that  it  suffices  to  "  say  3'ou  believe"  and 
to  be  "made  happy."     And  in  this  parable,  our  Saviour 

8 


114  GOSPEL    OF  ST.  MARK. 

has  given  striking  expression  to  His  judgment  of  the 
school  which  rehes  upon  mere  happiness.  Next  to 
those  who  leave  the  seed  for  Satan  to  snatch  away, 
He  places  them  "  who,  when  they  have  heard  the  word, 
straightway  receive  it  with  joy."  They  have  taken  the 
promises  without  the  precepts,  they  have  hoped  for 
the  crown  without  the  cross.  Their  type  is  the  thin 
layer  of  earth  spread  over  a  shelf  of  rock.  The  water, 
which  cannot  sink  down,  and  the  heat  reflected  up 
from  the  stone,  make  it  for  a  time  almost  a  hot  bed. 
Straightway  the  seed  sprang  up,  because  it  had  no 
deepness  of  earth.  But  the  moisture  thus  detained 
upon  the  surface  vanished  utterly  in  time  of  drought; 
the  young  roots,  unable  to  penetrate  to  any  deeper 
supplies,  were  scorched  ;  and  it  witliered  away.  That 
superficial  heat  and  moisture  was  impulsive  emotion, 
glad  to  hear  of  heaven,  and  love,  and  privilege,  but 
forgetful  to  mortify  the  flesh,  and  to  be  partaker  with 
Christ  in  His  death.  The  roots  of  a  real  Christian  life 
must  strike  deeper  down.  Consciousness  of  sin  and 
its  penalty  and  of  the  awful  price  by  which  that 
penalty  has  been  paid,  consciousness  of  what  life 
should  have  been  and  how  we  have  degraded  it, 
consciousness  of  what  it  must  yet  be  made  by  grace 
— these  do  not  lead  to  joy  so  immediate,  so  impulsive, 
as  the  growth  of  this  shallow  vegetation.  A  mature 
and  settled  joy  is  among  "the  fruits  of  the  spirit :  "  it 
is  not  the  first  blade  that  shoots  up. 

Now  because  the  sense  of  sin  and  duty  and  atonement 
have  not  done  their  sobering  work,  the  feelings,  so  easily 
quickened,  are  also  easily  perverted  :  "  When  tribulation 
or  persecution  ariseth  because  of  the  word,  straightway 
they  stumble."  These  were  not  counted  upon.  Neither 
trouble    of  mind  nor   opposition    of  wicked  men  was 


Mark  iv.  3-9,  I4-20.]  THE  SOWER.  115 

included  in  the  holiday  scheme  of  the  life  Divine.  And 
their  pressure  is  not  counter-weighted  by  that  of  any 
deep  convictions.  The  roots  have  never  penetrated 
farther  than  temporal  calamities  and  trials  can  reach. 
In  the  time  of  drought  they  have  not  enough.  They 
endure,   but  only  for  a  while. 

St.  Paul  sowed  upon  just  such  soil  in  Galatia.  There 
his  hearers  spoke  of  such  blessedness  that  they  would 
have  plucked  out  their  eyes  for  him.  But  he  became 
their  enemy  because  he  told  them  all  the  truth,  when 
only  a  part  was  welcome.  And  as  Christ  said,  Straight- 
way they  stumble,  so  St.  Paul  had  to  marvel  that  they 
were  so  soon  subverted. 

If  indifference  be  the  first  danger,  and  shallowness 
the  second,  mixed  motive  is  the  third.  Men  there  are 
who  are  very  earnest,  and  far  indeed  from  slight  views 
of  truth,  who  are  nevertheless  in  sore  danger,  because 
they  are  equally  earnest  about  other  things  ;  because 
they  cannot  resign  this  world,  whatever  be  their 
concern  about  the  next  ;  because  the  soil  of  their  life 
would  fain  grow  two  inconsistent  harvests.  Like  seed 
sown  among  thorns,  ''  choked "  by  their  entangling 
roots  and  light-excluding  growths,  the  word  in  such 
hearts,  though  neither  left  upon  a  hard  surface  nor 
forbidden  by  rock  to  strike  deep  into  the  earth, 
is  overmastered  by  an  unworthy  rivalry.  A  kind 
of  vegetation  it  does  produce,  but  not  such  as  the 
tiller  seeks  :  the  word  becometh  unfruitful.  It  is 
the  same  lesson  as  w'hen  Jesus  said,  "  No  man  can 
serve  two  masters.  Ye  cannot  serve  God  and 
mammon." 

Perhaps  it  is  the  one  most  needed  in  our  time  of 
feverish  religious  controversy  and  heated  party  spirit, 
when    every  one   hath  a    teaching,   hath  a   revelation, 


ii6  GOSFEL   OF  ST.  MARK. 

hath  a  tongue,  hath  an  interpretation,  but  scarcely 
any  have  denied  the  world  and  taken  in  exchange  a 
cross. 

St.  Paul  found  a  thorny  soil  in  Corinth  which  came 
behind  in  no  gift,  if  only  gifts  had  been  graces,  but 
was  indulgent,  factious  and  selfish,  puffed  up  amid 
flagrant  vices,  one  hungry  and  another  drunken,  while 
wrangling  about  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection. 

The  various  evils  of  this  parable  are  all  of  them 
worldliness,  differently  manifested.  The  deadening 
effect  of  habitual  forgetfulness  of  God,  treading  the  soil 
so  hard  that  no  seed  can  enter  it ;  the  treacherous  effect 
of  secret  love  of  earth,  a  buried  obstruction  refusing  to 
admit  the  gospel  into  the  recesses  of  the  life,  however 
it  may  reach  the  feelings  ;  and  the  fierce  and  stubborn 
competition  of  worldly  interests,  wherever  they  are 
not  resolutely  weeded  out,  against  these  Jesus  spoke 
His  earliest  parable.  And  it  is  instructive  to  review 
the  foes  by  which  He  represented  His  Gospel  as  warred 
upon.  The  personal  activity  of  Satan  ;  "  tribulation  or 
persecution"  from  without,  and  within  the  heart  "cares" 
rather  for  self  than  for  the  dependent  and  the  poor, 
"  deceitfulness  of  riches  "  for  those  who  possess  enough 
to  trust  in,  or  to  replace  with  a  fictitious  importance 
the  only  genuine  value,  which  is  that  of  character 
(although  men  are  still  esteemed  for  being  "  worth "  a 
round  sum,  a  strange  estimate,  to  be  made  by  Chris- 
tians, of  a  being  with  a  soul  burning  in  him);  and  alike 
for  rich  and  poor,  "  the  lusts  of  other  things,"  since 
none  is  too  poor  to  covet,  and  none  so  rich  that  his 
desires  shall  not  increase,  like  some  diseases,  by  being 
fed. 

Lastly,  we  have  those  on  the  good  ground,  who  are 
not  described  by  their  sensibilities  or  their  enjoyments, 


117 


Mark  iv.  3-9,  I4-20.]        JIJE^SOWER^ 

l^'^J^^T^i^loyalty.     They  "  hear  the  word  and  accept 
it  and  bear    fruit."      To  accept   is  what    distinguishes 
them  ahke  from  the  wayside  hearers  into  whose  atten- 
tion  the  word    never    sinks,    from    the    rocky    hearers 
who  only   receive   it  with   a   superficial   welcome,  and 
from  the    thorny  hearers  who  only  give    it    a   divided 
welcome.     It  is  not  said,  as  if  the  word  were  merely 
the   precepts,  that  they  obey  it.       The   sower  of   this 
seed    is   not   he   who  bade   the  soldier  not  to   do   vio- 
lence,  and  the   publican  not  to   extort :  it   is  He   who 
said    Repent,   and  believe  the  gospel.       He  implanted 
new'  hopes,  convictions,  and    affections,  as    the    germ 
which  should  unfold    in    a    new  life.      And    the  good 
fruit  is    borne   by  those  who    honestly   "accept     His 

word.  ...       1 

Fruitfulness  is  never  in  the  gospel  the  condition  by 
which  life  is  earned,  but  it  is  always  the  test  by  wh.ch 
to  prove  it.  In  all  the  accounts  of  the  final  judgmen  , 
we  catch  the  principle  of  the  bold  challenge  of  St. 
Tames  "Show  me  thy  faith  without  thy  works,  and  I 
v^n  show  thee  my  faith  by  my  works."  The  talent 
must  produce  more  talents,  and  the  pound  more 
pounds;  the  servant  must  have  ^-^  J^'^^  S^^^.f"' ^^ 
[i.ht  in  his  hand;  the  blessed  are  they  who  did  unto 
je^us  the  kindness  they  did  unto  the  least_  of  His 
brethren,  and  the  accursed  are  they  who  did  it  not  to 

Jesus  in  His  people.  ,  r  -.u  Jr. 

We  are  not  wrong  in  preaching  that  honest  faith  m 
Christ  is  the  only  condition  of  acceptance,  and  the  way 
to  obtain  strength  for  good  works.  But  perhaps  we 
fail  to  add,  with  sufficient  emphasis,  that  good  works 
are  the  only  sufficient  evidence  of  real  faith,  of  genuine 
conversion.  Lydia,  whose  heart  the  Lord  opened  and 
who  constrained  the  Apostle  to  abide  in  her  house,  was, 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


converted  as  truly  as  the  gaoler  who  passed  through  all 
the  vicissitudes  of  despair,  trembling  and  astonishment, 
and  belief. 

"They  bear  fruit,  thirtyfold  and  sixtyfold  and  an 
hundredfold."  And  all  are  alike  accepted.  But  the 
parable  of  the  pounds  shows  that  all  are  not  alike  re- 
warded, and  in  equal  circumstances  superior  efficiency 
wins  a  superior  prize.  One  star  differeth  from  another 
star  in  gior}'',  and  they  who  turn  many  to  righteousness 
shall  shine  as  the  sun  for  ever. 


LAMP  AND   STAND. 

"  And  He  said  nnto  them,  Is  tlie  lamp  brought  to  be  put  under  the 
bushel,  or  under  the  bed  ?  and  not  to  be  put  on  the  Star.d  ?  For  there 
is  nothing  hid,  save  that  it  should  be  manifested  ;  neiiher  was  anything 
made  secret,  but  that  it  should  come  to  light.  If  any  man  hath  ears  to 
hear,  let  him  hear.  And  He  said  unto  tliem,  Take  heed  what  ye  hear  : 
with  what  measure  ye  mele  it  shall  be  measured  unto  you  :  and  more 
shall  be  given  unto  you.  For  he  that  hath,  to  him  shall  be  given  :  and 
he  that  hath  not,  from  him  sliall  be  taken  away  even  that  which  he 
hath." — Mark  iv.  21-25  (R- V.). 

Jesus  had  now  taught  that  the  only  good  ground  was 
that  in  which  the  good  seed  bore  fruit.  And  He  adds 
explicitly,  that  men  receive  the  truth  in  order  to  spread 
it,  and  are  given  grace  that  they  may  become,  in  turn, 
good  stewards  of  the  manifold  grace  of  God. 

"  Is  the  lamp  brought  to  be  put  under  the  bushel  or 
under  the  bed,  and  not  to  be  put  on  the  stand  ?  "  The 
language  may  possibly  be  due,  as  men  have  argued, 
to  the  simple  conditions  of  life  among  the  Hebrew 
peasantry,  who  possessed  only  one  lamp,  one  corn- 
measure,  and  perhaps  one  bed.  All  the  gieater  marvel 
is  it  that  amid  such  surroundings  He  should  have 
announced,   and  not  in   vain,    that  His  disciples.  His 


Mark  iv.  21-25.]  LAMP  AND   STAND.  119 

Church,  should  become  the  hght  of  all  humanity,  "  the 
hiinp."  Alread}^  He  had  put  forward  the  same  claim 
e\en  more  explicitly,  saying,  "Ye  are  the  light  of  the 
world."  And  in  each  case,  He  spoke  not  in  the  intoxi- 
cation of  pride  or  self-assertion,  but  in  all  gravity,  and 
as  a  solemn  warning.  The  cit}'-  on  the  hill  could  not  be 
hid.  The  lamp  would  burn  dimly  under  the  bed  ;  it 
would  be  extinguished  entirely  by  the  bushel.  Publi- 
city is  the  soul  of  religion,  since  religion  is  light.  It  is 
meant  to  dilfuse  itself,  to  be,  as  He  expre.ssed  it,  like 
leaven  which  may  be  hid  at  first,  but  cannot  be  con- 
cealed, since  it  Vv'ill  leaven  all  the  lump.  And  so,  if  He 
spoke  in  parables,  and  consciously  hid  His  meaning  by 
so  doing,  this  was  not  to  withdraw  His  teaching  from 
the  masses,  it  was  to  shelter  the  flame  which  should 
presently  illuminate  all  the  house.  Nothing  was  hid, 
save  that  it  should  be  manifested,  nor  made  secret,  but 
that  it  should  come  to  light.  And  it  has  never  beenf 
othervvise.  Our  religion  has  no  privileged  inner  circle,' 
no  esoteric  doctrine  ;  and  its  chiefs,  when  men  glorified! 
one  or  another,  asked,  What  then  is  Apollos  ?  And 
what  is  Paul  ?  Ministers  through  whom  ye  believed. 
Agents  only,  for  conveying  to  otliers  what  they  had 
received  from  God.  And  thus  Pie  Who  now  spoke 
in  parables,  and  again  charged  them  not  to  make 
Him  known,  was  able  at  the  end  to  say.  In  secret 
have  I  spoken  nothing.  Therefore  Pie  repeats  with 
emphasis  llis  former  words,  frequent  on  His  lips 
henceforward,  and  ringing  through  the  messages  He 
spoke  in  glory  to  His  Churches.  If  any  man  hath 
ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear.  None  is  excluded  but 
by  himself. 

Yet  another  caution  follows.     If  the  seed  be  the  Word, 
there  is  sore  danger  from  false  teaching  ;  from  strewing 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARIC 


the  ground  with  adulterated  grain.  St.  Mark,  indeed, 
has  not  recorded  the  Parable  of  the  Tares.  But  there 
are  indications  of  it,  and  the  same  thought  is  audible 
in  this  saying,  "  Take  heed  what  ye  hear."  The  added 
words  are  a  httle  surprising  :  "  With  what  measure  ye 
mete  it  shall  be  measured  unto  you,  and  more  shall -be 
given  unto  you."  The  last  clause  expresses  exactly 
the  principle  on  which  tlie  forfeited  pound  was  given  to 
Him  who  had  ten  pounds  already,  the  open  hand  of 
God  lavishing  additional  gifts  upon  him  who  was 
capable  of  using  them.  But  does  not  the  whole  state- 
ment seem  to  follow  more  suitably  upon  a  command  to 
beware  what  we  teach,  and  thus  "  mete"  to  others,  than 
what  we  hear  ?  A  closer  examination  finds  in  this 
apparent  unfitness,  a  deeper  harmony  of  thought.  To 
"  accept "  the  genuine  word  is  the  sam.e  as  to  bring 
forth  fruit  for  God  ;  it  is  to  reckon  with  the  Lord  of 
the  talents,  and  to  yield  the  fruit  of  the  vineyard.  And 
this  is  to  "  mete,"  not  indeed  unto  man,  but  unto  God, 
Who  shows  Himself  froward  with  the  froward,  and 
from  him  that  hath  not,  whose  possession  is  below  his 
accountability,  takes  av/ay  even  that  he  hath,  but  gives 
exceeding  abundantly  above  all  they  ask  or  think  to 
those  who  have,  who  are  not  disobedient  to  the  heavenly 
calling. 

All  this  is  most  delicately  connected  with  what  pre- 
cedes it ;  and  the  parables,  hiding  the  truth  from 
some,  giving  it  authority,  and  colour,  and  effect  to 
others,  were  a  striking  example  of  the  process  here 
announced. 

Never  was  the  warning  to  be  heedful  what  we  hear, 
more  needed  than  at  present.  Men  think  themselves 
free  to  follow  any  teacher,  especially  if  he  be  eloquent, 
to  read  any  book,  if  only  it  be  in  demand,  and  to  dis- 


Mark  iv.  26-29.]     THE  SEED  GROWING  SECRETLY.  121 

CUSS  any  theory,  provided  it  be  fashionable,  while 
perfectly  well  aware  that  they  are  neither  earnest 
inquirers  after  truth,  nor  qualified  champions  against 
its  assailants.  For  what  then  do  they  read  and 
hear  ?  For  the  pleasure  of  a  rounded  phrase,  or  to 
augment  the  prattle  of  conceited  ignorance  in  a 
drawing-room. 

Do  we  wonder  when  these  pla3^ers  with  edged  tools 
injure  themselves,  and  become  perverts  or  agnostics  ? 
It  would  be  more  wonderful  if  they  remained  unhurt, 
since  Jesus  said,  "  Take  heed  what  ye  hear  .  .  .  from 
him  that  hath  not  shall  be  taken  even  that  he  hath." 
A  rash  and  uninstructed  exposure  of  our  intellects  to 
evil  influences,  is  meting  to  God  with  an  unjust  measure, 
as  really  as  a  wilful  plunge  into  any  other  temptation, 
since  we  are  bidden  to  cleanse  ourselves  from  all  de- 
filement of  the  spirit  as  well  as  of  the  flesh. 

THE   SEED   GROWING  SECRETLY. 

"  And  He  said,  So  is  the  kingdom  of  God,  as  if  a  man  should  cast 
seed  upon  the  earth  ;  and  shoukl  sleep  and  rise  niglit  and  day,  and  the 
seed  should  spring  up  and  grow,  he  knoweth  not  how.  The  earih 
beareth  fruit  of  herself ;  first  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  then  the  full  corn 
in  the  ear.  But  when  the  fruit  is  ripe,  straightway  he  putteth  forth  the 
sickle,  because  tlie  harvest  is  come." — Mark  iv.  26-29  (R.V.). 

St.  Mark  alone  records  this  parable  of  a  sower  who 
sleeps  by  night,  and  rises  for  other  business  by  day, 
and  knows  not  how  the  seed  springs  up.  That  is  not 
the  sower's  concern  :  all  that  remains  for  him  is  to  put 
forth  the  sickle  when  the  harvest  is  come. 

It  is  a  startling  parable  for  us  who  believe  in  the 
fostering  care  of  the  Divine  Spirit.  And  the  paradox 
is  forced  on  our  attention  by  the  words  "the  earth 
beareth   fruit  of  herself,"    contrasting   strangely  as  it 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 


does  with  such  other  assertions,  as  that  the  branch 
cannot  bear  fruit  of  itself,  that  without  Christ  we 
can  do  nothing,  and  that  when  we  Uve  it  is  not  we  but 
Clirist  who  hveth  in  us. 

It  will  often  help  us  to  understand  a  paradox  if  we 
can  discover  another  like  it.  And  exactly  such  an  one 
as  this  will  be  found  in  the  record  of  creation.  God 
rested  on  the  seventh  day  from  all  His  work,  yet  we 
know  that  His  providence  never  slumbers,  that  by 
Him  all  things  consist,  and  that  Jesus  defended  His 
own  work  of  healing  on  a  Sabbath  day  by  urging  that 
the  Sabbath  of  God  was  occupied  in  gracious  provision 
for  His  world.  "  My  Father  worketh  hitherto,  and  I 
work."  Thus  the  rest  of  God  from  creative  work 
says  nothing  about  His  energies  in  that  other  field  of 
providential  care.  Exactly  so  Jesus  here  treats  only 
of  what  may  be  called  the  creative  spiritual  work,  the 
deposit  of  the  seed  of  life.  And  the  essence  of  this 
remarkable  parable  is  the  assertion  that  we  are  to  expect 
an  orderl}'',  quiet  and  gradual  development  from  this 
principle  of  life,  not  a  series  of  communications  from 
without,  of  additional  revelations,  of  semi-miraculous 
interferences.  The  life  of  grace  is  a  natural  process 
in  the  supernatural  sphere.  In  one  sense  it  is  all 
of  God,  who  maketh  His  sun  to  rise,  and  sendeth 
rain,  without  which  the  earth  could  bear  no  fruit  of 
herself.  In  another  sense  we  must  work  out  our  own 
salvation  all  the  more  earnestly  because  it  is  God 
that  woiketh  in  us. 

Now  this  parable,  thus  explained,  has  been  proved 
true  in  the  wonderful  history  of  the  Church.  She  has 
grown,  not  only  in  extent  but  by  development,  as 
marvellously  as  a  corn  of  wheat  which  is  now  a  waving 
wheat-stem  with    its   ripening    ear.       When    Cardinal 


Mark iv.  26-29.]     THE  SEED  GROWING  SECRETLY.  123 

Newman  urged  that  an  ancient  Christian,  returning 
to  earth,  would  recognise  the  services  and  the  Churcli 
of  Rome,  and  would  fail  to  recognise  ours,  he  was 
probably  mistaken.  To  go  no  farther,  there  is  no 
Church  on  earth  so  unlike  the  Churches  of  the  New 
Testament  as  that  wliich  offers  praise  to  God  in  a 
strange  tongue.  St.  Paul  apprehended  that  a  stranger 
in  such  an  assembly  would  reckon  the  worshippers  mad. 
But  in  any  case  the  argument  forgets  that  the  whole 
kingdom  of  God  is  to  resemble  seed,  not  in  a  drawer, 
but  in  the  earth,  and  advancing  towards  the  harvest. 
It  must  "  die "  to  m.uch  if  it  will  bring  forth  fruit. 
It  muit  acquire  strange  bulk,  strange  forms,  strange 
organisms.  It  must  become,  to  those  who  only 
knew  it  as  it  was,  quite  as  unrecognisable  as  our 
Churches  are  said  to  be.  And  3'-et  the  changes  must 
be  those  of  logical  growth,  not  of  corruption.  And 
this  parable  tells  us  they  must  be  accomplished  with- 
out any  special  interference  such  as  marked  the  sowing 
time.  Well  then,  the  parable  is  a  prophecy.  Move- 
ment after  movement  has  modified  the  life  of  the 
Church.  Even  its  structure  is  not  all  it  was.  But 
these  changes  have  every  one  been  wrought  by  human 
agency,  they  have  come  from  within  it,  like  the  force 
which  pushes  the  germ  out  of  the  soil,  and  expands 
the  bud  into  the  full  corn  in  the  ear.  There  has  been 
no  grafting  knife  to  insert  a  new  principle  of  richer 
life  ;  the  gospel  and  the  sacraments  of  our  Lord  have 
contained  in  them  the  promise  and  potency  of  all  that 
was  yet  to  be  unfolded,  all  the  gracefulness  and  all  the 
fruit.  And  these  words,  "  the  earth  beareth  fruit  of 
lierself,  first  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  then  the  full  corn 
in  tlie  ear,"  each  so  diilerent,  and  yet  so  dependent  on 
what  preceded,  teach  us  two  great  ecclesiastical  lessons. 


124  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

They  condemn  the  violent  and  revolutionary  changes, 
which  would  not  develop  old  germs  but  tear  them  open 
or  perhaps  pull  them  up.  Much  may  be  distasteful  to 
the  spirit  of  sordid  utilitarianism  ;  a  mere  husk,  which 
nevertheless  within  it  shelters  precious  grain,  other- 
wise sure  to  perish.  If  thus  we  learn  to  respect  the 
old,  still  more  do  we  learn  that  what  is  new  has  also 
its  all-important  part  to  play.  The  blade  and  the  ear 
in  turn  are  innovations.  We  must  not  condemn  those 
new^  forms  of  Christian  activity,  Christian  association, 
and  Christian  councils,  which  nev/  times  evoke,  until 
we  have  considered  well  whether  they  are  truly  ex- 
pansions, in  the  light  and  heat  of  our  century,  of  the 
sacred  life-germ  of  the  ancient  faith  and  the  ancient 
love. 

And  what  lessons  has  this  parable  for  the  individual? 
Surely  that  of  active  present  faith,  not  waiting  for 
future  gifts  of  light  or  feeling,  but  confident  that  the 
seed  already  sown,  the  seed  of  the  word,  has  power  to 
develop  into  the  rich  fruit  of  Christian  character.  In 
this  respect  the  parable  supplements  the  first  one. 
From  that  we  learned  that  if  the  soil  were  not  in  fault, 
if  the  heart  were  honest  and  good,  the  seed  would 
fructify.  From  this  we  learn  that  these  conditions 
suffice  for  a  perfect  harvest.  The  incessant,  all-impor- 
tant help  of  God,  we  have  seen,  is  not  denied  ;  it  is 
taken  for  granted,  as  the  atmospheric  and  magnetic 
influences  upon  the  grain.  So  should  we  reverentially 
and  thankfully  rely  upon  the  aid  of  God,  and  then, 
instead  of  waiting  for  strange  visitations  and  special 
stirrings  of  grace,  account  that  we  already  possess 
enough  to  make  us  responsible  for  the  harvest  of  the 
soul.  Multitudes  of  souls,  whose  true  calling  is,  in 
obedient  trust,  to  arise  and  walk,  are  at  this  moment 


Mark  iv.  26-29.]     THE  SEED  GROWING  SECRETLY.  125 

lying  impotent  beside  some  pool  which  they  expect  an 
angel  to  stir,  and  into  which  they  fain  would  then  be 
put  by  some  one,  they  know  not  whom — multitudes  of 
expectant,  inert,  inactive  souls,  who  know  not  that  the 
text  they  have  most  need  to  ponder  is  this  :  "  the  earth 
beareth  fruit  of  itself."  For  want  of  this  they  are 
actually,  day  by  day,  receiving  the  grace  of  God  ia 
vain. 

We  learn  also  to  be  content  with  gradual  progress, 
St.  John  did  not  blame  the  children  and  young  men 
to  whom  he  wrote,  because  they  were  not  mature  in 
wisdom  and  experience.  St.  Paul  exhorts  us  to  grow 
up  in  all  things  into  Him  which  is  the  Head,  even 
Christ.  They  do  not  ask  for  more  than  steady  growth; 
and  their  Master,  as  He  distrusted  the  fleeting  joy  of 
hearers  whose  hearts  were  shallow,  now  explicitly  bids 
us  not  to  be  content  with  any  first  attainment,  not  to 
count  all  done  if  we  are  converted,  but  to  develop 
first  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  and  lastly  the  full  corn  in 
the  ear. 

Does  it  seem  a  tedious  weary  sentence  ?  Are  we 
discontent  for  want  of  conscious  interferences  of 
heaven  ?  Do  we  complain  that,  to  human  conscious- 
ness, the  great  Sower  sleeps  and  rises  up  and  leaves 
the  grain  to  fare  He  knows  not  how?  It  is  only  for  a 
little  while.  When  the  fruit  is  ripe,  He  will  Himself 
gather  it  into  His  eternal  garner. 


126  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


THE  MUSTARD   SEED. 

"  And  He  said,  How  shall  \ve  liken  the  kingdom  of  God  ?  or  in  wliat 
parable  shall  we  set  it  forth?  It  is  like  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  \vh  ch, 
when  it  is  sown  upon  tlie  earth,  though  it  be  less  than  all  the  seeds 
that  are  upon  the  earth,  yet  when  it  is  sown,  groweth  up,  and  becometh 
greater  than  all  the  herbs,  and  putteth  out  great  branches  ;  so  that  the 
birds  of  the  heaven  can  lodge  unaer  the  shadow  thereof.  And  with 
many  such  parables  spake  He  the  word  unto  them,  as  they  were  able 
to  hear  it  :  and  without  a  parable  spake  He  not  unto  them  :  but 
privately  to  His  own  disciples  He  expounded  all  things." — Mark 
iv.  30-34  (R.V.). 

St.  Mark  has  recorded  one  other  parable  of  this 
great  cycle.  Jesus  now  invites  the  disciples  to  let 
their  own  minds  play  upon  the  subject.  Each  is  to 
ask  himself  a  question  :  How  shall  we  liken  the  king- 
dom of  God  ?  or  in  what  parable  shall  we  set  it  forth  ? 

A  gentle  pause,  time  for  them  to  form  some  splendid 
and  ainbitious  image  in  their  minds,  and  then  we  can 
suppose  with  what  surprise  they  heard  His  own 
answer,  "  It  is  like  a  grain  of  mustard  seed."  And 
truly  some  Christians  of  a  later  day  might  be  aston- 
ished also,  if  they  could  call  up  a  fair  image  of  their 
own  conceptions  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  compare 
it  with  this  figure,  employed  by  Jesus. 

But  here  one  must  observe  a  peculiarity  in  our 
Saviour's  use  of  images.  His  illustrations  of  His  first 
coming,  and  of  His  work  of  grace,  which  are  many,  are 
all  of  the  homeliest  kind.  He  is  a  shepherd  who  seeks 
one  sheep.  He  is  not  an  eagle  that  fluttereth  over  her 
young  and  beareth  them  on  her  pinions,  but  a  hen  who 
gathereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings.  Never  once 
does  He  rise  into  that  high  and  poetic  strain  with 
which  His  followers  have  loved  to  sing  of  the  Star 
of    Bethlehem,  and  which  Isaiah  lavished  beforehandL 


Mark  iv.  30-34.]  THE   MUSTARD   SEED.  127 

upon  the  birth  of  the  Prince  of  Peace.  There  is  no 
language  more  intensely  concentrated  and. glowing  than 
He  has  emplo3fed  to  describe  the  judgment  of  the 
hypocrites  who  rejected  Him,  of  Jerusalem,  and  of  the 
world  at  last.  But  when  He  speaks  of  His  first  coming 
and  its  effects,  it  is  not  of  that  sunrise  to  which  all 
kings  and  nations  shall  hasten,  but  of  a  little  grain  of 
mustard  seed,  which  is  to  become  "greater  than  all 
the  herbs,"  and  put  forth  great  branches,  "so  that  the 
birds  of  the  heaven  can  lodge  under  the  shadow  of 
them."  When  one  thinks  of  such  an  image  for  such 
an  event,  of  the  founding  of  the  kingdom  of  God, 
and  its  advance  to  universal  supremacy,  represented  by 
the  small  seed  of  a  shrub  which  grows  to  the  height 
of  a  tree,  and  even  harbours  birds,  he  is  conscious 
almost  of  incongruity.  But  when  one  reconsiders  it, 
he  is  filled  with  awe  and  reverence.  For  this  exactly 
expresses  the  way  of  thinking  natural  to  One  who  has 
stooped  immeasurably  down  to  the  task  which  all 
others  feel  to  be  so  lofty.  There  is  a  poem  of  Shefley, 
which  expresses  the  relative  grea'-ness  of  three  spirits 
by  the  less  and  less  value  which  they  set  on  the 
splendours  of  the  material  heavens.  To  the  first  they 
are  a  palace-roof  of  golden  lights,  to  the  second  but 
the  mind's  first  chamber,  to  the  last  only  drops  which 
Nature's  mighty  heart  drives  through  thinnest  veins. 
Now  that  which  was  to  Isaiah  the  exalting  of  every 
valley  and  the  bringing  low  of  every  mountain,  and  to 
Daniel  the  overthrow  of  a  mighty  image  whose  aspect 
was  terrible,  by  a  stone  cut  out  without  hands,  was  lo 
Jesus  but  the  sowing  of  a  grain  of  mustard  seed. 
Could  any  other  have  spoken  thus  of  the  founding  of 
the  kingdom  of  God  ?  An  enthusiast  over-values  his 
work,    he  can  think  of  nothing  else ;  and  he  expects 


128  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 


immediate  revolutions.  Jesus  was  keenly  aware  that 
His  work  in  itself  was  very  small,  no  more  than  the 
sowing  of  a  seed,  and  even  of  the  least,  popularly 
speaking,  among  all  seeds.  Clearly  He  did  not  over- 
rate the  apparent  effect  of  His  work  on  earth.  And 
indeed,  what  germ  of  religious  teaching  could  be  less 
promising  than  the  doctrine  of  the  cross,  held  by  a  icw 
peasants  in  a  despised  province  of  a  nation  already 
subjugated  and  soon  to  be  overwhelmed  ? 

The  image  expresses  more  than  the  feeble  beginning 
and  victorious  issue  of  His  work,  more  than  even  the 
gradual  and  logical  process  by  which  this  final  triumph 
should  be  attained.  All  this  we  found  in  the  preceding 
parable.  But  here  the  emphasis  is  laid  on  the  develop- 
ment of  Christ's  influence  in  unexpected  spheres.  Un- 
like other  herbs,  the  mustard  in  Eastern  climates  does 
grow  into  a  tree,  shoot  out  great  branches  from  the 
main  stem,  and  give  shelter  to  the  birds  of  the  air.  So 
has  the  Christian  faith  developed  ever  new  collateral 
agencies,  charitable,  educational,  and  social  :  so  have 
architecture,  music,  literature,  flourished  under  its 
shade,  and  there  is  not  one  truly  human  interest  which 
would  not  be  deprived  of  its  best  shelter  if  the  rod  of 
Jesse  were  hewn  down.  Nay,  we  may  urge  that  the 
Church  itself  has  become  the  most  potent  force  in  direc- 
tions not  its  own  :  it  broke  the  chains  of  the  negro  ;  it 
asserts  the  rights  of  w^oman  and  of  the  poor  ;  its  noble 
literature  is  finding  a  response  in  the  breast  of  a 
hundred  degraded  races  ;  the  herb  has  become  a  tree. 

And  so  in  the  life  of  individuals,  if  the  seed  be  allowed 
its  due  scope  and  place  to  grow,  it  gives  shelter  and 
blessing  to  whatsoever  things  are  honest  and  lovely, 
not  only  if  there  be  any  virtue,  but  also  if  there  be  any 
praise. 


Markiv.  39  ;  v-i5.3i>4i]     FOUR   MIRACLES.  129 

Well  is  it  with  the  nation,  and  well  with  the  soul, 
when  the  faith  of  Jesus  is  not  rigidly  restricted  to  a 
prescribed  sphere,  when  the  leaves  which  are  for  the 
healing  of  the  nations  cast  their  shadow  broad  and  cool 
over  all  the  spaces  in  which  all  its  birds  of  song  are 
nestling. 

A  remarkable  assertion  is  added.  Although  the  para- 
bolic mode  of  teaching  was  adopted  in  judgment,  yet  its 
severe  effect  was  confined  within  the  narrowest  limits. 
His  many  parables  were  spoken  "  as  they  were  able  to 
hear,"  but  only  to  His  own  disciples  privately  was  all 
their  nieaning  expounded. 

FOUR  MIRACLES. 

"  And  there  was  a  great  calm." — Mark  iv.  39  (R.V.). 
"  Behold,  him  that  was  possessed  with  devils,  silting,  clothed  and  in 
his  right  mind,  evat  him  that  had  the  legion." — v.  15  (R.V.). 
"  Who  touched  Me  ?  "— v.  31  (R.V.). 
"  Talitha  cumi."— v.  41  (R.V.). 

There  are  two  ways,  equally  useful,  of  studying 
Scripture,  as  there  are  of  regarding  the  other  book 
of  God,  the  face  of  Nature.  We  may  bend  over  a  wild 
flower,  or  gaze  across  a  landscape  ;  and  it  will  happen 
that  a  naturalist,  pursuing  a  moth,  loses  sight  of  a 
mountain-range.  It  is  a  well-known  proverb,  that 
one  may  fail  to  see  the  wood  for  the  trees,  losing  in 
details  the  general  effect.  And  so  the  careful  student 
of  isolated  texts  may  never  perceive  the  force  and 
cohesion  of  a  connected  passage. 

The  reader  of  a  Gospel  narrative  thinks,  that  by 
pondering  it  as  a  whole,  he  secures  himself  aga'nst 
any  such  misfortune.  But  a  narrative  dislocated,  often 
loses  as  much  as  a  detached  verse.  The  actions  of  our 
Lord  are  often  exquisitely  grouped,  as  becometh  Him 

9 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.  MARK. 


Who  hath  made  everything  not  beautiful  only,  but 
especially  beautiful  in  its  season.  And  we  should  not 
be  content  without  combining  the  two  ways  of  reading 
Scripture,  the  detailed  and  the  rapid, — lingering  at 
times  to  apprehend  the  marvellous  force  of  a  solitary 
verse,  and  again  sweeping  over  a  broad  expanse,  like 
a  surveyor,  who,  to  map  a  country,  stretches  his 
triangles  from  mountain  peak  to  peak. 

We  have  reached  a  point  at  which  St.  Mark  records  a 
special  outshining  of  miraculous  power.  Four  striking 
works  follow  each  other  without  a  break,  and  it  must 
not  for  a  moment  be  supposed  that  the  narrative  is  thus 
constructed,  certain  intermediate  discourses  and  events 
being  sacrificed  for  the  purpose,  without  a  deliberate 
and  a  truthful  intention.  That  intention  is  to  represent 
the  effect,  intense  and  exalting,  produced  by  such  a 
cycle  of  wonders  on  the  minds  of  His  disciples.  They 
saw  them  come  close  upon  each  other  :  we  should  lose 
the  impression  as  we  read,  if  other  incidents  were 
allowed  to  interpose  themselves.  It  is  one  more 
example  of  St.  Mark's  desire  to  throw  light,  above  all 
things,  upon  the  energy  and  power  of  the  sacred  life. 

W'e  have  to  observe  therefore  the  bearing  of  these 
four  miracles  on  each  other,  and  upon  what  precedes, 
before  studying  them  one  by  one. 

It  was  a  time  of  trial.  The  Pharisees  had  decided 
that  He  had  a  devil.  His  relatives  had  said  He  was 
beside  Himself.  His  manner  of  teaching  had  changed, 
because  the  people  should  see  without  perceiving,  and 
hear  without  understanding.  They  who  understood 
His  parables  heard  much  of  seed  that  failed,  of  success 
a  great  way  off,  of  a  kingdom  which  would  indeed  be 
great  at  last,  but  for  the  present  v^-eak  and  small.  And 
i.  is  certain  tliat  there  must   have  been  heavy  hearts 


Markiv.  39;  V.  15,31.41-]     FOUR   MIRACLES.  131 

among  those  who  left,  with  Him,  the  populous  side  of 
the  lake,  to  cross  over  into  remote  and  semi-pagan 
retirement.  To  encourage  them,  and  as  if  in  protest 
against  His  rejection  by  the  authorities,  Jesus  enters 
upon  this  great  cycle  of  miracles. 

They  find  themselves,  as  the  Church  has  often  since 
been  placed,  and  as  every  human  soul  has  had  to  feel 
itself,  far  from  shore,  and  tempest-beaten.  The  rage 
of  human  foes  is  not  so  deaf,  so  implacable,  as  that  of 
wind  and  wave.  It  is  the  stress  of  adverse  circum- 
stances in  the  direst  form.  But  Jesus  proves  Himself 
to  be  Master  of  the  forces  of  nature  vv'hich  would  over- 
whelm them. 

Ka}^,  they  learn  that  His  seeming  indifference  is  no 
proof  that  they  are  neglected,  by  the  rebuke  He  speaks 
to  their  over-importunate  appeals,  Why  are  ye  so  fear- 
ful ?  have  ye  not  yet  faith  ?  And  the}-,  who  might 
have  been  shaken  by  the  infidelity  of  other  men,  fear 
exceedingly  as  they  behold  the  obedience  of  the  wind 
and  the  sea,  and  ask.  Who  then  is  this? 

But  in  their  mission  as  His  disciples,  a  worse  danger 
than  the  enmity  of  man  or  convulsions  of  nature  awaits 
them.  On  landing,  they  are  at  once  confronted  by  one 
whom  an  evil  spirit  has  made  exceeding  fierce,  so  that 
no  man  could  pass  by  that  way.  It  is  their  way 
nevertheless,  and  they  must  tread  it.  And  the  de- 
moniac adores,  and  the  evil  spirits  themselves  are 
abject  in  supplication,  and  at  the  word  of  Jesus  are 
expelled.  Even  the  inhabitants,  who  will  not  receive 
Him,  are  awe-struck  and  deprecatory,  and  if  at  their 
bidding  Jesus  turns  away  again.  His  followers  may 
judge  whether  the  habitual  meekness  of  such  a  one 
is  due  to  feebleness  or  to  a  noble  self-command. 

Landing  once    more,   they   are   soon  accosted  by  a 


132  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

ruler  of  the  synagogue,  whom  sorrow  has  purified  from 
the  prejudices  of  his  class.  And  Jesus  is  about  to  heal 
the  daughter  of  Jairus,  when  another  form  of  need  is 
brought  to  light.  A  slow  and  secret  decline,  wasting 
the  vital  powers,  a  silent  w^oe,  speechless,  stealthily 
approaching  the  Healer — over  this  grief  also  He  is 
Lord.  And  it  is  seen  that  neither  the  visible  actions 
of  Jesus  nor  the  audible  praises  of  His  petitioners  can 
measure  the  power  that  goes  out  of  Him,  the  physical 
benefits  which  encompass  the  Teacher  as  a  halo  enve- 
lopes flame. 

Circumstances,  and  the  fiends  of  the  pit,  and  the 
woes  that  waste  the  lives  of  men,  over  these  He  has 
been  seen  to  triumph.  But  behind  all  that  we  strive 
with  here,  there  lurks  the  last  enemy,  and  he  also  shall 
be  subdued.  And  now  first  an  example  is  recorded  of 
what  we  know  to  have  already  taken  place,  the  con- 
quest of  death  by  his  predicted  Spoiler.  Youth  and 
gentle  maidenhood,  high  hope  and  prosperous  circum- 
stances have  been  wasted,  but  the  call  of  Jesus  is  heard 
by  the  ear  that  was  stopped  with  dust,  and  the  spirit 
obeys  Him  in  the  far  off  realm  of  the  departed,  and 
they  who  have  just  seen  such  other  marvels,  are  never- 
theless amazed  with  a  great  amazement. 

No  cycle  of  miracles  could  be  more  rounded,  S3'm- 
metrical  and  exhaustive;  none  could  better  vindicate 
to  His  disciples  His  impugned  authority,  or  brace  their 
endangered  faith,  or  fit  them  for  what  almost  imme- 
diately followed,  their  own  commission,  and  the  first 
journey  upon  which  they  too  cast  out  many  devils,  and 
anointed  with  oil  many  that  were  sick,  and  healed  theni. 


Mark  iv.  35-41  ;vi.  47-52-]      THE    TWO   STORMS.  133 


THE     TWO    STORMS. 

"And  on  that  day,  when  even  was  come,  He  saith  unto  them,  Let  us 
go  over  unto  the  other  side.  And  leaving  the  muUitude,  they  take 
Him  with  them,  even  as  He  was,  in  the  boat.  And  other  boats  were 
with  Him.  And  there  ariseth  a  great  storm  of  wind,  and  the  waves 
beat  into  the  boat,  insomuch  that  the  boat  was  now  filhng.  And  He 
Himself  was  in  tlie  stern,  asleep  on  the  cushion  :  and  they  awake  Him, 
and  say  unto  Him,  Master,  carest  Thou  not  that  we  perish?  And  He 
awoke,  and  rebuked  the  wind,  and  said  unto  the  sea,  Peace,  be  still. 
And  the  wind  ceased,  and  there  was  a  great  calm.  And  He  said  unto 
them,  Why  are  ye  fearful?  have  ye  not  yet  faith?  And  they  feared 
exceedingly,  and  said  one  to  another,  Who  then  is  this,  that  even  the 
wind  and  the  sea  obey  him?" — Mark  iv.  35-41  (R.V.). 

"And  when  even  was  come,  the  boat  was  in  the  midst  of  the  sea.  and 
He  alone  on  the  land.  And  seeing  them  distressed  in  rowing,  for  the 
wind  was  contrary  unto  them,  about  the  fourth  watch  of  the  night  He 
Cometh  unto  them,  walking  on  the  sea  ;  and  He  would  have  passed  by 
them  :  but  they,  wlien  they  saw  Him  walking  on  the  sea,  supposed  that 
it  was  an  apparition,  and  cried  out  :  for  the}'  all  saw  Him,  and  were 
troubled.  But  He  straightway  spake  with  them,  and  saith  unto  them, 
Be  of  good  cheer :  it  is  I  ;  be  not  afraid.  And  He  went  up  unto  them 
into  the  boat  ;  and  the  v^ind  ceased  :  and  they  were  sore  amazed  in 
themselves.  For  they  understood  not  concerning  the  loaves,  but  their 
hearts  were  hardened." — Mark  vi.  47-52  (R.V.). 

Few  readers  are  insensible  to  the  wonderful  power 
with  which  the  Gospels  tell  the  story  of  the  two  storms 
upon  the  lake'.  The  narratives  are  favourites  in  every 
Sunday  school  ;  they  form  the  basis  of  countless 
hymns  and  poems  ;  and  we  always  recur  to  them  with 
fresh  delight. 

In  the  first  account  we  see  as  in  a  picture  the 
weariness  of  the  great  Teacher,  when,  the  long  day 
being  over  and  the  multitude  dismissed,  He  retreats 
across  the  sea  without  preparation,  and  "as  He  was," 
and  sinks  to  sleep  on  the  one  cushion  in  the  stern, 
undisturbed  by  the  raging  tempest  or  by  the  waves 
which  beat  into  the  boat.     We  observe  the  reluctance 


134  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

of  the  disciples  to  arouse  Him  until  the  peril  is  extreme, 
and  the  boat  is  "now"  filling.  We  hear  from  St. 
Mark,  the  associate  of  St.  Peter,  the  presumptuous  and 
characteristic  cry  which  expresses  terror,  and  perhaps 
dread  lest  His  tranquil  slumbers  may  indicate  a  separa- 
tion between  His  cause  and  theirs,  who  perish  while 
He  is  unconcerned.  We  admire  equally  the  calm  and 
masterful  words  which  quell  the  tempest,  and  those 
which  enjoin  a  faith  so  lofty  as  to  endure  the  last 
extremities  of  peril  without  dismay,  without  agitation 
in  its  prayers.  We  observe  the  strange  incident,  that 
no  sooner  does  the  storm  cease  than  the  waters, 
commonly  seething  for  many  hours  afterwards,  grow 
calm.  And  the  picture  is  completed  b}'  the  mention  of 
their  new  dread  (fear  of  the  supernatural  Man  replacing 
their  terror  amid  the  convulsions  of  nature),  and  of 
their  awestruck  questioning  among  themselves. 

In  the  second  narrative  we  see  the  ship  far  out  in 
the  lake,  but  watched  by  One,  Who  is  alone  upon  the 
land.  Through  the  gloom  He  sees  them  "  tormented  " 
by  fruitless  rowing  ;  but  though  this  is  the  reason  why 
He  comes.  He  is  about  to  pass  them  by.  The  watch 
of  the  night  is  remembered  ;  it  is  the  fourth.  The  cry 
of  their  alarm  is  universal,  for  they  all  saw  Him  and 
were  troubled.  We  are  told  of  the  promptitude  with 
which  He  thereupon  relieved  their  fears  ;  we  see  Him 
climb  up  into  the  boat,  and  the  sudden  ceasing  of  the 
storm,  and  their  amazement.  Nor  is  that  after-thought 
omitted  in  which  they  blamed  themselves  for  their 
astonishment.  If  their  hearts  had  not  been  hardened, 
the  miracle  of  the  loaves  would  have  taught  them 
that  Jesus  was  the  master  of  the  physical  world. 

Now  all  this  picturesque  detail  belongs  to  a  single 
Gospel.      And    it    is    exactly   what    a    believer  would 


Mark  iv.  35-41  ;vi.  47-52.]     THE    TWO  STORMS.  I35 

expect.     How    much    soever    the    hcahng    of    disease 
iiiight  interest  St.  Luke  the  physician,  who  relates  all 
such    events   so  vividly,   it  would   have   impressed  the 
patient  himself  yet  more,  and  an  account  of  it  by  him, 
if  we  had  it,  would  be  full  of  graphic  touches.     Now 
these  two  miracles  were  wrought  for  the  rescue  of  the 
apostles  themselves.     The  Twelve  took  the  place  held 
in   others    by    the   lame,   the   halt   and   the    blind :  the 
suspense,  the  appeal,  and  the  joy  of  deliverance  were 
all  their  own.      It  is  therefore  no  wonder  that  we  find 
their  accounts  of  these  especial  miracles  so  picturesque. 
But  this  is  a  solid  evidence  of  the  trutli  of  the  narra- 
tives ;  for  while  the  remembrance  of  such  actual  events 
should  thrill  with  agitated  life,  there  is  no  reason  why 
a   legend   of  the   kind   should    be   especially  clear  and 
vivid.      The  same  argument  might    easily    be    carried 
farther.     When  the  disciples  began  to  reproach  them- 
selves  for   their   unbelieving   astonishment,   they   were 
naturally  conscious  of  having  failed  to  learn  the  lesson 
which  had  been  taught  them  just  before.     Later  students 
and  moralists  would  have  observed  that  another  miracle, 
a  litde   earlier,  was  a  still  closer  precedent,  but  they 
naturally  blamed  themselves   most  for   being  blind   to 
what   was  immediately  before  their  eyes.     Now  wiren 
Jesus  walked  upon  the  waters  and  the  disciples  were 
amazed,   it  is   not   said  that  they  forgot   how   He  had 
already  stilled  a  tempest,  but  they  considered  not  the 
miracle  of   the  loaves,   for  their    heart    was   hardened. 
In  touches  like  this    we  find    the   influence    of   a    by- 
stander beyond  denial. 

Every  student  of  Scripture  must  have  observed  the 
special  significance  of  those  parables  and  miracles 
which  recur  a  second  time  with  certain  designed  varia- 
tions.    In    the    miraculous   draughts  of  fishes,  Christ 


136  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

Himself  avowed  an  allusion  to  the  catching  of  men. 
And  the  Church  has  always  discerned  a  spiritual 
intention  in  these  two  storms,  in  one  of  which  Christ 
slept,  while  in  the  other  His  disciples  toiled  alone,  and 
which  express,  between  them,  the  whole  strain  exer- 
cised upon  a  devout  spirit  by  adverse  circumstances. 
Dangers  never  alarmed  one  who  realized  both  the 
presence  of  Jesus  and  His  vigilant  care.  Temptation 
enters  only  because  this  is  veiled.  Why  do  adversities 
press  hard  upon  me,  if  indeed  1  belong  to  Christ  ?  He 
must  either  be  indifferent  and  sleeping,  or  else  absent 
altogether  from  my  frail  and  foundering  bark.  It  is 
thus  that  we  let  go  our  confidence,  and  incur  agonies  of 
mental  suffering,  and  the  rebuke  of  our  Master,  even 
though  He  continues  to  be  the  Protector  of  His  un- 
worthy people. 

On  the  voyage  of  life  we  may  conceive  of  Jesus 
as  our  Companion,  for  He  is  with  us  always,  or  as 
watching  us  from  the  everlasting  hills,  whither  it  was 
expedient  for  us  that  He  should  go.  Nevertheless,  we 
are  storm-tossed  and  in  danger.  Although  v/e  are  His, 
and  not  separated  from  Him  by  any  conscious  dis- 
obedience, yet  the  conditions  of  life  are  unmitigated, 
the  winds  as  wild,  the  waves  as  merciless,  the  boat  as 
cruelly  "  tormented"  as  ever.  And  no  rescue  comes  : 
Jesus  is  asleep  :  He  cares  not  that  we  perish.  Then 
we  pray  after  a  fashion  so  clamorous,  and  with  suppli- 
cation so  like  demands,  that  we  too  appear  to  have 
undertaken  to  awake  our  Lord.  Then  we  have  to 
learn  from  the  first  of  these  miracles,  and  especially 
from  its  delay.  The  disciples  were  safe,  had  they  only 
known  it,  whether  Jesus  would  have  interposed  of  His 
own  accord,  or  whether  they  might  still  have  needed  to 
appeal  to  Him,  but  in  a  gentler  fashion.     We  may  ask 


Mark  iv.  35-41  ;vi.  47-52-]     THE    TWO   STORMS.  137 

help,  provided  that  we  do  so  in  a  serene  and  trustful 
spirit,  anxious  for  nothing,  not  seeking  to  extort  a  con- 
cession, but  approaching  with  boldness  the  throne  of 
grace,  on  which  our  Father  sits.  It  is  thus  that  the 
peace  of  God  shall  rule  our  hearts  and  minds,  for  want 
of  which  the  apostles  were  asked.  Where  is  your  faith  ? 
Comparing  the  narratives,  we  learn  that  Jesus  reassured 
their  hearts  even  before  He  arose,  and  then,  having 
first  silenced  by  His  calmness  the  storm  within  them. 
He  stood   up  and   rebuked  the  storm   around. 

St.  Augustine  gave  a  false  turn  to  the  application, 
when  he  said,  "  If  Jesus  were  not  asleep  within  thee, 
thou  wouldst  be  calm  and  at  rest.  But  why  is  He 
asleep  ?  Because  th}'  faith  is  asleep,"  etc.  (Sermon  Ixiii.) 
The  sleep  of  Jesus  was  natural  and  right ;  and  it 
answers  not  to  our  spiritual  torpor,  but  to  His  apparent 
indifference  and  non-intervention  in  our  time  of  distress. 
And  the  true  lesson  of  the  miracle  is  that  we  should 
trust  Him  Whose  care  fails  not  when  it  seems  to  fail, 
Who  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost,  and  Whom  we 
should  approach  in  the  direst  peril  without  panic.  It 
was  fitly  taught  them  first  when  all  the  powers  of  the 
State  and  the  Church  were  leagued  against  Him,  and 
He  as  a  blind  man  saw  not  and  as  a  dumb  man  opened 
not  His  mouth. 

The  second  storm  should  have  found  them  braver  by 
the  experience  of  the  first ;  but  spiritually  as  well  as 
bodily  they  were  farther  removed  from  Christ.  The 
people,  profoundl}-  moved  by  the  murder  of  the  Baptist, 
wished  to  set  Jesus  on  the  throne,  and  the  disciples  were 
too  ambitious  to  be  allowed  to  be  present  while  He  dis- 
missed the  multitudes.  They  had  to  be  sent  away,  and 
it  was  from  the  distant  hillside  that  Jesus  saw  their 
danger.     Surely  it  is  instructive,  that  neither  the  shades 


138  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

of  night,  nor  the  abstracted  fervour  of  His  prayers,  pre- 
vented him  from  seeing  it,  nor  the  stormlashed  waters 
from  bringing  aid.  And  significant  also,  that  the  ex- 
perience of  remoteness,  though  not  sinful,  since  He  had 
sent  them  away,  was  yet  the  result  of  their  own  worldli- 
ness.  It  is  when  we  are  out  of  sympathy  with  Jesus 
that  we  are  most  likely  to  be  alone  in  trouble.  None 
was  in  their  boat  to  ^save  them,  and  in  heart  also  they 
had  gone  out  from  the  presence  of  their  God.  Therefore 
they  failed  to  trust  in  His  guidance  Who  had  sent 
them  into  the  ship  :  they  had  no  sen^^e  of  protection  or 
of  supervision  ;  and  it  was  a  terrible  moment  when  a 
form  was  vaguely  seen  to  glide  over  the  waves.  Christ, 
it  would  seem,  would  have  gone  bet'ore  and  led  them 
to  the  haven  where  they  would  be.  Or  perhaps  He 
"  would  have  passed  by  them,"  as  He  would  after- 
wards have  gone  further  than  Emmaus,  to  elicit  any 
trustful  half-recognition  which  might  call  to  Him  and 
be  rewarded.  But  they  cried  out  for  fear.  And  so  it 
is  continually  with  God  in  His  world,  men  are  terrified 
at  the  presence  of  the  supernatural,  because  they  fail 
to  apprehend  the  abiding  presence  of  the  supernatural 
Christ.  And  yet  there  is  one  point  at  least  in  every 
life,  the  final  moment,  in  which  all  else  must  recede, 
and  the  soul  be  left  alone  with  the  beings  of  another 
world.  Then,  and  in  every  trial,  and  especially  in  all 
trials  which  press  in  upon  us  the  consciousness  of  tlie 
spiritual  universe,  well  is  it  for  him  who  hears  the 
voice  of  Jesus  saying.  It  is  I,  be  not  afraid. 

For  only  through  Jesus,  only  in  His  person,  has 
that  unknown  universe  ceased  to  be  dreadful  and 
mysterious.  Only  when  He  is  welcomed  does  the 
storm  cease  to  rage  around  us. 

It  was  the  earlier  of  these  miracles  which  first  taught 


Mark  iv.  35-51  ;vi.  47-52.]     THE    TWO   STORMS.  139 

the  disciples  tliat  not  only  were  human  disorders  under 
His   control,    and   gifts   and    blessings  at   His  disposal 
but  also  the  whole  range  of  nature  was  subject  to  Him, 
and  the  winds  and  the  sea  obey  Him. 

Shall  we  say  that  His  rebuke  addressed  to  these  was 
a   mere  figure    of  speech  ?     Some  have   inferred    that 
natural    convulsions   are  so    directly  the  work  of  evil 
angels    that   the  words    of   Jesus  were    really  spoken 
to  them.      But  the  plain  assertion  is  that  He  rebuked 
the  winds  and  the  waves,  and  these  would  not  become 
identical  with  Satan  even  upon  the  supposition  that  he 
excites  them.     We  ourselves  continually  personify  the 
course  of  nature,  and   even  complain    of  it,  wantonly 
enough,    and    Scripture   does    not    deny   itself  the  use 
of  ordinary    human    forms    of  speech.     Yet   the   very 
peculiar    word  employed   by  Jesus   cannot   be  without 
significance.      It?  is  the  same  with  which  He  had  already 
confronted  the  violence  of  the  demoniac  in    the  syna- 
gogue.  Be  muzzled.     At  the   least  it  expresses   stern 
repression,  and  thus  it  reminds  us  that  creation  itself 
is  made  subject  to  vanit}^,  the  world  deranged  by  sin, 
so  that  all  around  us  requires  readjustment  as  truly  as 
all  within,  and  Christ  shall  at  last  create  a  new  earth 
as  well  as  a  new  heaven. 

Some  pious  people  resign  themselves  much  too 
passively  to  the  mischiefs  of  the  material  universe, 
supposing  that  troubles  which  are  not  of  their  own 
making,  must  needs  be  a  Divine  infliction,  calling  only 
for  submission.  But  God  sends  oppositions  to  be 
conquered  as  well  as  burdens  to  be  borne  ;  and  even 
before  the  fall  the  world  had  to  be  subdued.  And 
our  final  mastery  over  the  surrounding  universe  was 
expressed,  when  Jesus  our  Head  rebuked  the  winds, 
and  stilled  the  waves  when  they  arose. 


r40  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

As  they  beheld,  a  new  sense  fell  upon  His  disciples 
of  a  more  awful  presence  than  they  had  yet  discerned. 
They  asked  not  only  what  manner  of  man  is  this  ?  but, 
with  surmises  which  went  out  beyond  the  limits  of 
human  greatness,  Who  then  is  this,  that  even  the  winds 
and  the  sea  obey  Him  ? 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE  DEMONIAC   OF  GADARA. 

"  And  they  came  to  the  other  side  of  the  sea,  into  the  country  of  the 
Gerasenes.  And  when  He  was  come  out  of  the  boat,  straightway  there 
met  Him  out  of  the  tombs  a  man  with  an  unclean  spirit,  who  had  his 
dwelling  in  the  tombs  :  and  no  man  could  any  more  bind  him.  no,  not 
with  a  chain  ;  because  that  he  had  been  often  bound  with  fetters  and 
chains,  and  the  chains  had  been  rent  asunder  by  him,  and  the  ietters 
broken  in  pieces  :  and  no  man  had  strength  to  tame  him.  And  always, 
night  and  day,  in  the  tombs  and  in  the  mountains,  he  was  crying  out, 
and  cutting  himself  with  stones.  And  when  he  saw  Jesus  from  afar,  he 
ran  and  worshipped  Him  ;  and  crying  out  with  a  loud  voice,  he  saiih, 
What  have  I  to  do  with  Thee,  Jesus,  Thou  Son  of  the  Most  High  God  ? 
I  adjure  Thee  by  God,  torment  me  not.-  For  He  said  unto  him,  Come 
forth,  thou  unclean  spirit,  out  of  the  man.  And  He  asked  him.  What 
is  thy  name?  And  he  saith  unto  Him,  My  name  is  Legion;  for  we 
are  many.  And  he  besought  Him  much  that  He  would  not  send  them 
away  out  of  the  country.  Now  there  was  there  on  the  mountain  side  a 
great  herd  of  swine  feeding.  And  they  besought  Him,  saying,  Send  us 
into  the  swine,  that  we  may  enter  into  them.  And  He  gave  them  leave. 
And  the  unclean  spirits  came  out,  and  entered  into  the  swine  :  and  the 
herd  rushed  down  the  steep  into  the  sea,  in  number  about  two  thousand  ; 
and  they  were  choked  in  the  sea.  And  they  that  fed  them  fled,  and 
told  it  in  the  city,  and  in  the  country.  And  they  came  to  see  what  it 
was  that  had  come  to  pass.  And  they  come  to  Jesus,  and  behold  him 
that  was  possessed  with  devils  sitting,  clothed  and  in  his  right  mind, 
cven\i\m  that  had  the  legion:  and  they  were  afraid.  And  they  that 
saw  it  declaied  unto  them  how  it  befell  him  that  was  possessed  with 
devils,  and  concerning  the  swine.  And  they  began  to  beseech  Him  to 
depart  from  their  borders.  And  as  He  was  entering  into  the  boat,  he 
that  had  been  possessed  with  devils  besought  Him  that  he  might  be 
with  Him.     And  He  suffered  him  not,  but  saith  unto  him,  Go  to  t'ly 


142  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

bouse  unto  tliy  friends,  and  tell  them  how  great  things  the  Loid  hath 
done  for  ihee,  and  how  He  had  mercy  on  thee.  And  he  went  hi-3  way, 
and  began  to  publish  in  Decapolis  how  great  things  Jesus  had  done  for 
him  :  and  all  men  did  marvel." — Mark  v.  I-20  (R.V.). 

FRESH  from  asserting  His  mastery  over  winds 
and  waves,  the  Lord  was  met  by  a  more  terrible 
enemy,  the  rage  of  human  nature  enslaved  and  impelled 
by  the  cruelty  of  hell.  The  place  where  He  landed  was 
a  theatre  not  unfit  for  the  tragedy  which  it  revealed. 
A  mixed  race  was  there,  indifferent  to  religion,  rearing 
great  herds  of  swine,  upon  which  the  law  looked  askance, 
but  the  profits  of  which  they  held  so  dear  that  they 
would  choose  to  banish  a  Divine  ambassador,  and  one 
who  had  released  them  from  an  incessant  peril,  rather 
than  be  deprived  of  these.  Now  it  has  already  been 
shown  that  the  wretches  possessed  by  devils  were  not  of 
necessit}''  stained  with  special  guilt.  Even  children 
fell  into  this  misery.  But  yet  we  should  expect  to 
find  it  most  rampant  in  places  where  God  was  dis- 
honoured, in  Gerasa  and  in  the  coasts  of  'YyxG.  and 
Sidon.  And  it  is  so.  All  misery  is  the  consequence 
of  sin,  although  individual  misery  does  not  measure 
individual  guilt.  And  the  places  where  the  shadow  of 
sin  has  fallen  heaviest  are  always  the  haunts  of  direst 
wretchedness. 

The  first  Gospel  nientions  two  demoniacs,  but  one 
was  doubtless  so  pre-eminently  fierce,  and  possibly  so 
zealous  afterward  in  proclaiming  his  deliverance,  that 
only  St.  Matthew  learned  the  existence  of  another, 
upon  whom  also  Satan  had  wrought,  if  not  his  worst, 
enough  to  show  his  hatred,  and  the  woes  he  would  fain 
bring  upon  humanity. 

Among  the  few  terrible  glimpses  given  us  of  the 
mind  of  the  fallen  angels,   one  is  most  significant  and 


Matkv.  1-20.]        THE   DEMONIAC   OF   GADARA.  143 

sinister.  When  the  unclean  spirit  is  gone  out  of  a  man, 
to  wiiat  liramts  does  he  turn  ?  He  has  no  s3'iTipathy 
vvitli  what  is  lovely  or  sublime  :  in  search  of  rest  he 
wanders  through  dry  places,  deserts  of  arid  sand  in 
which  his  misery  may  be  soothed  by  congenial  desola- 
tion. Thus  the  ruins  of  the  mystic  Babylon  become 
an  abode  of  devils.  And  thus  the  unclean  spirit,  when 
he  mastered  this  demoniac,  drove  him  to  a  foul  and 
dreary  abode  among  the  tombs.  One  can  picture  the 
victim  in  some  kicid  moment,  awakening  to  conscious- 
ness only  to  shudder  in  his  dreadful  home,  and  scared 
back  again  into  that  ferocity  which  is  the  child  of 
terror. 

"  Is  it  not  very  li';e, 
The  horriljle  conceit  of  death  and  night, 
Together  with  the  terror  of  the  place 

Oh  !  if  I  wahe,  shall  I  not  be  distraught, 
Environed  with  all  these  hideous  fears?  " 

l^onico  and  Juliet,  iv.  3. 

There  was  a  time  when  he  had  been  under  restraint, 
but  "now  no  man  could  any  more  bind  him"  even 
with  iron  upon  feet  and  wrists.  The  ferocity  of  his 
cruel  subjugator  turned  his  own  strength  against  himself, 
so  that  night  and  day  his  howling  was  heard,  as  he 
cut  himself  with  stones,  and  his  haunts  in  the  tombs 
and  in  the  mountains  w^ere  as  dangerous  as  the  lair  of 
a  wild  breast,  which  no  man  dared  pass  by.  What 
strange  impulse  drove  him  thence  to  the  feet  of  Jesus  ? 
Very  dreadful  is  the  picture  of  his  conflicting  tendencies  ; 
the  fiend  within  him  struggling  against  something 
still  human  and  attracted  b}'  the  Divine,  so  that  he  runs 
from  afar,  3'et  cries  aloud,  and  worslups  3'et  disowns 
having  anything  to  do  with  Him;  and  as  if  the  fiend 


144  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

had  subverted  the  true  personality,  and  become  the  very 
man,  when  ordered  to  come  out  he  adjures  Jesus  to 
torment  him  not. 

And  here  we  observe  the  knowledge  of  Christ's  rank 
possessed  by  the  evil  ones.  Long  before  Peter  won  a 
special  blessing  for  acknowledging  the  Son  of  the 
living  God,  the  demoniac  called  Him  by  the  very  name 
which  flesh  and  blood  did  not  reveal  to  Cephas.  For 
their  chief  had  tested  and  discovered  Him  in  the 
wilderness,  saying  twice  with  dread  surmise,  If  Thou 
be  the  Son  of  God.  It  is  also  noteworthy  tf4iat  the 
phrase,  the  most  High  God,  is  the  name  of  Jehovah 
among  the  non-Jewish  races.  It  occurs  in  both  Testa- 
ments in  connection  with  Melchizedek  the  Canaanite. 
It  is  used  throughout  the  Babylonian  proclamations  in 
the  book  of  Daniel.  Micah  puts  it  into  the  lips  of 
Balaam.  And  the  damsel  with  a  spirit  of  divination 
employed  it  in  Philippi.  Except  once,  in  a  Psalm  v/hich 
tells  of  the  return  of  apostate  Israel  to  the  Tvlost  High 
God  (l.xxviii.  35),  the  epithet  is  used  only  in  relation 
with  the  nations  outside  the  covenant.  Its  occurrence 
here  is  probably  a  sign  of  the  pagan  influences  by  which 
Gadara  was  infected,  and  for  which  it  was  plagued.  By 
the  name  of  God  then,  whose  Son  He  loudly  confessed 
that  Jesus  was,  the  fiend  within  the  man  adjures  Him 
to  torment  Him  not.  But  Jesus  had  not  asked  to  be 
acknowledged  ;  He  had  bidden  the  devil  to  come  out. 
And  persons  who  substitute  loud  confessions  and 
clamorous  orthodoxies  for  obedience  should  remember 
that  so  did  the  fiend  of  Gadara.  Jesus  replied  by 
asking,  What  is  thy  name  ?  The  question  was  not  an 
idle  one,  but  had  a  healing  tendency.  For  the  man 
was  beside  himself:  it  was  part  of  his  cure  that  he  was 
found  "  in  his  right  mind  ; "  and  meanwhile  his  very 


Mark  V.  1-20.]        THE   DEMONIAC    OF   GADARA.  145 

consciousness  was  merged  in  tliat  of  the  fiends  who 
tortured  him,  so  that  his  voice  was  their  voice,  and  they 
returned  a  vaunting  answer  through  His  hps.  Our 
Lord  sought  therefore  both  to  cahn  His  excitement  and 
to  remind  him  of  himself,  and  of  what  he  once  had 
been  before  evil  beings  dethroned  his  will.  These 
were  not  the  man,  but  his  enemies  by  whom  he  was 
"  carried  about,"  and  "  led  captive  at  their  will."  And 
it  is  always  sobering  to  think  of  "  Myself,"  the  lonely 
individual,  apart  from  even  those  who  most  influence 
me,  with  a  soul  to  lose  or  save.  With  this  very 
question  the  Church  Catechism  begins  its  work  of 
arousing  and  instructing  the  conscience  of  each  child, 
separating  him  from  his  fellows  in  order  to  lead  him  on 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  individualising  grace  of  God. 

It  may  be  that  the  fiends  within  him  dictated  his 
reply,  or  that  he  himself,  conscious  of  their  tyranny, 
cried  out  in  agony.  We  are  many  ;  a  regiment  like  those 
of  conquering  Rome,  drilled  and  armed  to  trample  and 
destroy,  a  legion.  This  answer  distinctly  contravened 
what  Christ  had  just  implied,  that  he  was  one,  an  indi- 
vidual, and  precious  in  his  Maker's  eyes.  But  there 
are  men  and  women  in  every  Christian  land,  whom  it 
might  startle  to  look  within,  and  see  how  far  their 
individuality  is  oppressed  and  overlaid  by  a  legion  of 
impulses,  appetites,  and  conventionalities,  which  leave 
them  nothing  personal,  nothing  essential  and  charac- 
teristic, nothing  that  deserves  a  name.  The  demons, 
now  conscious  of  the  power  which  calls  them  forth, 
besought  Him  to  leave  them  a  refuge  in  that  country. 
St.  Luke  throws  light  upon  this  petition,  as  well  as 
their  formicr  complaint,  when  he  tells  us  they  feared  to 
be  sent  to  "  the  abyss  "  of  their  final  retribution.  And 
as  we  read  of  men  who  are  haunted  by  a  fearful  looking 

10 


145  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

for  of  judgment  and  a  fierceness  of  fire,  so  they  had  no 
hope  of  escape,  except  until  "the  time."  For  a  Httle 
respite  they  prayed  to  be  sent  even  into  the  swine,  and 
Jesus  gave  them  leave. 

What  a  difference  there  is  between  the  proud  and 
heroic  spirits  whom  Milton  celebrated,  and  these  malig- 
nant but  miserable  beings,  haunting  the  sepulchres  like 
ghosts,  truculent  and  yet  dastardly,  as  ready  to  suppli- 
cate as  to  rend,  filled  with  dread  of  the  appointed  time 
and  of  the  abyss,  clinging  to  that  outl3Mng  country  as  a 
congenial  haunt,  and  devising  for  themselves  a  last 
asylum  among  the  brutes.  And  yet  they  are  equally 
far  from  the  materialistic  superstitions  of  that  age  and 
place  ;  they  are  not  amenable  to  fumigations  or  exor- 
cisms, and  they  do  not  upset  the  furniture  in  rushing  out. 
Many  questions  have  been  asked  about  the  petition  of 
the  demons  and  our  Lord's  consent.  But  none  of  them 
need  much  distress  the  reverential  enquirer,  who  re- 
members by  what  misty  horizons  all  our  knowledge  is 
enclosed.  Most  absurd  is  the  charge  that  Jesus  acted 
indefensibly  in  destroying  property.  Is  it  then  so  clear 
that  the  owners  did  not  deserve  their  loss  through  the 
nature  of  their  investments  ?  Was  it  merely  as,a  man, 
or  as  the  Son  of  the  living  God,  that  His  consent  was 
felt  to  be  necessary  ?  And  was  it  any  part  of  His 
mission"  to  protect  brutes  from  death  ? 

The  loss  endured  was  no  greater  than  when  a  crop 
is  beaten  down  by  hail,  or  a  vineyard  devastated  by 
insects,  and  in  these  cases  an  agency  beyond  the  control 
of  man  is  sent  or  permitted  by  God,  Wlio  was  in  Christ. 

A  far  harder  question  it  is,  How  could  devils  enter  into 
brute  creatures?  and  again,  Why  did  they  desire  to  do 
so?  But  the  first  of  these  is  only  a  subdivision  of  the 
vaster  problem,  at  once  inevitable  and  insoluble,  Ho.v 


Mai-kv.  I-20.]     THE  DEMONIAC   OF   GADARA.  147 

docs  spirit  in  any  of  its  forms  animate  matter,  or  even 
manipulate  it  ?  We  know  not  by  what  strange  link  a 
thought  contracts  a  sinew,  and  transmutes  itself  into 
words  or  deeds.  And  if  we  believe  the  dread  and 
melancholy  fact  of  the  possession  of  a  child  by  a  fiend, 
what  reason  have  we,  beyond  prejudice,  for  doubting 
the  possession  of  swine  ?  It  must  be  observed  also, 
that  no  such  possession  is  proved  by  this  narrative 
to  be  a  common  event,  but  the  reverse.  The  notion 
is  a  last  and  wild  expedient  of  despair,  proposing  to 
content  itself  with  the  uttermost  abasement,  if  only  the 
demons  might  still  haunt  the  region  where  they  had 
thriven  so  well.  And  the  consent  of  Jesus  does  not 
commit  Him  to  any  judgment  upon  the  merit  or  the 
possibility  of  the  project.  He  leaves  the  experiment 
to  prove  itself,  exactly  as  when  Peter  would  walk  upon 
the  water;  and  a  laconic  "  Go"  in  this  case  recalls  the 
"Come"  in  that;  an  assent,  without  approval,  to  an 
attempt  which  was  about  to  fail.  Not  in  the  world  of 
brutes  could  the}'  find  shelter  from  the  banishment 
they  dreaded  ;  for  the  whole  herd,  frantic  and  un- 
governed,  rushed  headlong  into  the  sea  and  was 
destroyed.  The  second  victory  of  the  series  was  thus 
completed.  Jesus  was  Master  over  the  evil  spirits 
which  aPdict  humanity,  as  well  as  over  the  fierceness 
of  the  elements  which  rise  against  us. 


148  GOSPEL    OF  ST.  MARK. 


THE    MEN    OF    GADARA. 

"And  they  that  fwl  them  fled,  and  told  it  in  the  city,  and  in  the 
country.  Aud  they  came  to  see  what  it  was  that  had  come  to  pass, 
And  they  come  to  Jesus,  and  behold  him  that  was  possessed  with  devils 
sittinn-.  clothed  aud  in  his  right  mind,  eve7i  him  that  had  the  legion  : 
and  they  were  afraid.  And  they  that  saw  it  declared  unto  them  how 
it  befell  him  that  was  possessed  with  devils,  and  concerning  the  swine. 
And  they  began  to  beseech  him  to  depart  from  their  borders.  And  as 
He  was  entering  into  the  boat,  he  that  had  been  possessed  with  devils 
besouuht  Him  that  he  might  be  with  Him.  And  He  suffered  him  not, 
but  saith  unto  him.  Go  to  thy  house  unto  thy  friends,  and  tell  them 
how  great  things  the  Lord  hath  done  for  thee,  and  koia  He  had  mercy 
on  thee.  And  he  went  his  way,  and  began  to  publish  in  Decapolis  how 
great  things  Jesus  had  done  for  him  :  and  all  men  did  marvel."— 
Maric  v.  14-20  (R.V. ). 

The  expulsion  of  the  demons  from  the  possessed,  their 
entrance  into  the  herd,  and  the  destruction  of  the  two 
thousand  swine,  were  virtually  one  transaction,  and 
must  have  im.pressed  the  swineherds  in  its  totality. 
They  sav/  on  the  one  hand  the  restoration  of  a  danger- 
ous and  raging  madman,  known  to  be  actuated  by  evil 
spirits,  the  removal  of  a  standing  peril  which  had 
already  made  one  tract  of  country  impassable,  and  (if 
they  considered  such  a  thing  at  all)  the  calming  of  a 
human  soul,  and  its  advent  within  the  reach  of  all 
sacred  influences.  On  the  other  side  what  was  there  ? 
The  loss  of  two  thousand  swine  ;  and  the  consciousness 
that  the  kingdom  of  God  was  come  nigh  unto  them. 
This  was  always  an  alarming  discovery.  Isaiah  said. 
Woe  is  me  !  when  his  eyes  beheld  God  high  and  lifted 
up.  And  Peter  said,  Depart  from  me,  when  he  learned 
by  the  miraculous  draught  of  fish  that  the  Lord  was 
there.  But  Isaiah's  concern  was  because  he  was  a 
man  of  unclean  lips,  and  Peter's  was  because  he  was 
a  sinful  man.     Their  alarm  was  that  of  an  awakened 


Mark  V.  I4-20.]  THE    MEN   OF  GADARA.  149 

conscience,  and  therefore  they  became  the  heralds  of 
Him  Whom  they  feared.  But  these  men  were  simply 
scared  at  what  they  instinctively  felt  to  be  dangerous  ; 
and  so  they  took  refuge  in  a  crowd,  that  frequent  resort 
of  the  frivolous  and  conscience-stricken,  and  told  in 
the  city  what  they  had  seen.  And  when  the  inhabit- 
ants came  forth,  a  sight  met  them  which  might  have 
won  the  sternest,  the  man  sitting,  clothed  (a  nice 
coincidence,  since  St.  Mark  had  not  mentioned  that  he 
"  ware  no  clothes,")  and  in  his  right  mind,  even  him 
that  had  the  legion,  as  the  narrative  emphatically  adds. 
And  doubtless  the  much  debated  incident  of  the  swine 
had  greatly  helped  to  reassure  this  afflicted  soul ;  the 
demons  were  palpably  gone,  visibly  enough  they  were 
overmastered.  But  the  citizens,  like  the  svv'ineherds, 
were  merely  terrified,  neither  grateful  nor  sympathetic ; 
uninspired  with  hope  of  pure  teaching,  of  rescue  from 
other  influences  of  the  evil  one,  or  of  any  unearthly 
kingdom.  Their  formidable  visitant  was  one  to  treat 
with  all  respect,  but  to  remove  with  all  speed,  "  and 
they  began  to  beseech  Him  to  depart  from  their 
borders."  They  began,  for  it  did  not  require  long 
entreaty  ;  the  gospel  which  was  free  to  all  was  not  to 
be  forced  upon  any.  But  how  much  did  they  blindly 
fling  away,  who  refused  the  presence  of  the  meek 
and  lowly  Giver  of  rest  unto  souls  ;  and  chose  to 
be  denied,  as  strangers  whom  He  never  knew,  in  the 
day  when  every  eye  shall  see   Him. 

With  how  sad  a  heart  must  Jesus  have  turned  away. 
Yet  one  soul  at  least  was  won,  for  as  He  was  entering 
into  the  boat,  the  man  who  owed  all  to  Him  prayed 
Him  that  he  might  be  with  Him.  Why  was  the 
prayer  refused  ?  Doubtless  it  sprang  chiefly  from 
gratitude  and  love,  thinking  it  hard  to  lose  so  soon  the 


ISO  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

wondrous  benefactor,  the  Man  at  whose  feet  he  liad 
sat  down,  Who  alone  had  looked  with  pitiful  and 
helpful  eyes  on  one  whom  others  only  sought  to 
"tame."  Such  feelings  are  admirable,  but  they  must 
be  disciplined  so  as  to  seek,  not  their  own  indulgence, 
but  their  Master's  real  service.  Now  a  reclaimed  de- 
moniac would  have  been  a  suspected  companion  for 
One  who  was  accused  of  league  with  the  Prince  of  the 
devils.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  he  had 
any  fitness  whatever  to  enter  the  immediate  circle  of 
our  Lord's  intimate  disciples.  His  special  testimony 
would  lose  all  its  force  when  he  left  the  district  where 
he  was  known;  but  there,  on  the  contrary,  the  miracle 
could  not  fail  to  be  impressive,  as  its  extent  and  per- 
manence were  seen.  This  man  was  perhaps  the  only 
missionary  who  could  reckon  upon  a  hearing  from 
those  who  banished  Jesus  from  tlieir  coasts.  And 
Christ's  loving  and  unresentful  heart  would  give  this 
testimony  to  them  in  its  fulness.  It  should  begin  at 
his  own  house  and  among  his  friends,  who  would 
surely  listen.  They  should  be  told  how  great  things 
the  Lord  had  done  for  him,  and  Jesus  expressly  added, 
how  He  had  mercy  upon  thee,  that  so  they  might  learn 
their  mistake,  who  feared  and  shrank  from  such  a  kindly 
jyjsitant.  Here  is  a  lesson  for  these  modern  da^'s,  when 
the  conversion  of  any  noted  profligate  is  sure  to  be 
followed  by  attempts  to  push  him  into  a  vagrant 
publicity,  not  only  full  of  peril  in  itself,  but  also  re- 
moving him  from  the  familiar  sphere  in  which  his  con- 
sistent life  would  be  more  convincing  than  all  sermons, 
and  where  no  suspicion  of  self-interest  could  overcloud 
the  brightness  of  his  testimony. 

Possibly  there   was  yet  another  reason   for  leaving 
him  in  his  home.      He  may  have  desired  to  remain  close 


Mark  V.  21-43-]  WITHJAIRUS.  151 


to  Jesus,  lest,  when  the  Saviour  was  absent,  the  evil 
spirits  should  resume  their  sway.  In  that  case  it 
would  be  necessary  to  exercise  his  faith  and  convince 
him  that  the  words  of  Jesus  were  far-reaching  and 
effectual,  even  when  He  was  Himself  remote.  If  so, 
he  learned  the  lesson  well,  and  became  an  evangelist 
through  all  the  region  of  Decapolis.  And  where  all 
did  marvel,  we  may  hope  that  some  were  won.  What 
a  revelation  of  mastery  over  the  darkest  and  most 
dreadful  forces  of  evil,  and  of  respect  for  the  human 
will  (which  Jesus  never  once  coerced  by  miracle,  even 
when  it  rejected  Him),  what  unwearied  care  for  the 
rebellious,  and  what  a  sense  of  sacredness  in  lowly 
duties,  better  for  the  demoniac  than  the  physical  near- 
ness of  his  Lord,  are  combined  in  this  astonishing 
narrative,  which  to  invent  in  the  second  century  would 
itself  have  required  miraculous  pov^^ers. 

WITH  JAIRUS. 

"  And  when  Jesus  had  crossed  over  again  in  the  boat  unto  the  other 
side,  a  great  muUitude  was  gathered  umo  Him  :  and  He  was  by  the 
sea.  And  there  cometh  one  of  the  rulers  of  the  synagogue.  Jairus  by 
name  ;  and  seeing  Him,  he  falleth  at  His  feet,  and  beseecheth  Him 
much,  saying.  My  little  daughter  is  at  the  point  of  death  :  I  pray  7 kce 
that  Thou  come  and  lay  Thy  hands  on  her,  that  she  may  be  made 
whole,  and  live.  And  He  went  with  him  ;  and  a  great  multitude 
followed  Him,  and  they  thronged  Him.  And  a  woman,  which  had  an 
issue  of  blood  twelve  years,  and  had  suffered  many  things  of  many 
physicians,  and  had  spent  all  that  she  had,  and  was  nothing  bettered, 
but  rather  grew  worse,  having  heard  the  things  concerning  Jesus,  came 
in  the  crov\'d  behind,  and  touched  His  garment.  For  she  said.  If  I 
touch  but  His.  garments,  I  shall  be  made  whole.  And  straightway  the 
fountain  of  her  blood  was  dried  up  ;  and  she  felt  in  her  body  that  she 
was  healed  of  her  plague.  And  straiL^htway  Jesus,  perceiving  in  Him- 
self ihat  the  power  proceeding  from  Him  had  gone  foith,  turr.ed  liim 
about  in  the  crowd,  and  said,  Who  touched  My  garments?  And  His 
diiciples  said  unto   Him,   Thou  seest   the   mullilude  thronging  Thee, 


GOSPEL   OF  ST.    MARK. 


and  sayest  Thou,  Who  touched  Me?  And  He  looked  rouud  about  to 
see  her  that  had  done  this  tl.ing.  liut  the  woman  fearing  and  trembling, 
knowing  \Nhat  liad  Ijeen  djnc  to  her,  came  and  fell  down  beloie  Hiin, 
and  told  Mim  all  the  truth.  And  He  .said  unto  lier,  Daughter,  thy 
j'aiih  hath  made  thee  whole  ;  go  in  peace,  and  ht  whole  of  thy  plague. 
While  He  yet  spake,  they  come  from  t!ie  ruler  of  the  ssnagogues 
house,  saying,  Thy  daughter  is  dead  :  \N'hy  troidjlest  thou  the  idaster 
any  further  ?  But  Jesus  not  heeding  the  word  spoken,  saith  unto  the 
ruler  of  the  synagogue,  Fear  not,  only  believe.  And  He  suiTered  no 
man  to  follow  with  Him,  save  Peier,  and  James,  and  John  t!ie  brother 
of  James.  And  they  come  to  the  house  of  the  luler  of  the  synagogue  ; 
and  He  beholdeth  a  tumult,  .and  many  weeping  and  wailing  greatly. 
And  when  He  was  entered  in.  He  saifh  unto  tliem,  Why  make  ye  a 
tumult,  and  weep?  the  child  is  not  dead,  but  sleepeth.  And  they 
laughed  Him  to  scorn.  Uut  He,  having  put  them  all  forth,  taketh  the 
father  of  the  child  and  her  mother  and  them  that  were  with  Him,  and 
goeth  in  where  the  child  was.  And  taking  the  child  by  the  hand,  He 
saith  unto  her,  Talitha  cnmi ;  which  is,  being  interpreted,  Damsel,  I 
say  unto  thee,  Arise.  And  straightway  the  damsel  rose  up,  and  walked  • 
for  she  was  twelve  years  old.  And  they  were  amazed  straightway  with 
a  great  amazement.  And  He  charged  them  much  that  no  man  should 
know  this;  and  He  commanded  that  so/mihin^r  should  be  given  her  to 
eat." — Mark  v.  21-43  (ls..V.). 

Repulsed  from.Decapolis,  but  consoled  by  the  rescue 
and  zeal  of  the  demoniac,  Jesus  returned  to  the  western 
shore,  and  a  great  multitude  assembled.  The  other 
boats  which  were  with  Him  had  doubtless  spread  the 
tidings  of  the  preternatural  calm  which  rescued  them 
from  deadly  peril,  and  it  may  be  that  news  of  the  event 
of  Gadara  arrived  almost  as  soon  as  He  Whom  they 
celebrated.  V/e  have  seen  that  St.  Mark  aims  at  bring- 
ing the  four  great  miracles  of  this  period  into  the  closest 
sequence.  And  so  he  passes  over  a  certain  brief  period 
with  the  words  "  He  was  by  the  sea."  But  in  fact 
Jesus  was  reasoning  with  the  Pharisees,  and  with  the 
disciples  of  John,  w'ho  had  assailed  Him  and  His 
followers,  when  one  of  their  natural  leaders  threw  him- 
self at  His  feet. 


Markv.  21-43] 


WITH  J  A  IK  US.  '53 


The  contrast  is  sharp  enough,  as  He  nses_  from  a 
feast  to  go  to  the  house  of  mourning,  from  eatu.g  ^vlta 
pt'lican:  and    sinners    to    accompany  a    ruler    of    he 
3  ^n^o-oo-ue        These    unexpected    calls,    these    sudden 
alternadons  all  found  Him  equally  ready  to  bear  the 
same  noble  part,  in  the  most  dissimilar  scenes,  and  in 
treating  temperaments  the  most  unlike.     But  the  con- 
trast should  also  be  observed  between  those  harsh  and 
hostile  critics  who  hated  Him  in  the  interests  of  dogma 
and  of  ceremonial,  and  Jairus,  whose  views  were  theirs, 
but  whose  heart  was  softened  by  trouble.     The  danger 
of  his  child  was  what  drove  him,  perhaps  reluctant  y 
enough,   to   beseech   Jesus  much.     And  nothing  could 
be    more    touching    than    his    prayer    for    his        htde 
daughter,"  its  sequence  broken  as  if  with  a  sob  ;  wisl- 
full^  pictorial  as  to  the  process,  "  that  Thou  come  and 
lay  Thy   hands   upon   her,"  and  dilating  wistlu  ly  too 
upon   the  eftect,  ''that  she  may  be  made  whole    and 
live"     If  a  miracle  were  not  in  question,  the  dullest 
critic  in  Europe  would  confess  that  this  exquisite  sup- 
plication  was   not   composed   by   an  evangelist    but    a 
father      And  he  would  understand  also  why  the  very 
words  in  their  native  dialect  were  not  forgotten,  which 
men  had  heard  awake  the  dead.  ,.,.,,         . 

As  Jesus  went  with  him,  a  great  multitude  followed 
Him  and  they  thronged  Him.  It  "is  quite  evident  that 
Tesus  did  not  love  these  gatherings  of  the  idly  currous. 
Partly  from  such  movements  He  had  withdrawn  Him- 
self to  Gadara  ;  and  partly  to  avoid  exciting  them  He 
strove  to  keep  many  of  His  miracles  a  secret.  Sensa- 
tionalism is  neither  grace  nor  a  means  of  grace.  And 
it  must  be  considered  that  the  perfect  Man,  as  lar  from 
mental  apathy  or  physical  insensibility  as  trom  morbid 
fastidiousness,  would  find  much  to  shrink  away  from  in 


IS4  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

the  pressure  of  a  city  crowd.  The  contact  of  inferior 
organizations,  seh'ishness  driving  back  the  weak  and 
gentle,  vulgar  scrutiny  and  audible  comment,  and  the 
desire  for  some  miracle  as  an  idle  show,  which  He  would 
only  work  because  His  gentle  heart  was  full  of  pity, 
all  these  would  be  utterly  distressing  to  Him  who  was 

"  The  first  true  gentleman  that  ever  breathed," 

as  well  as  the  revelation  of  God  in  flesh.  It  is  therefore 
noteworthy  that  we  have  many  examples  of  His  grace 
and  goodness  amid  such  tr^'ing  scenes,  as  when  He 
spoke  to  Zacchasus,  and  called  Bartimaeus  to  Him  to  be 
healed.  Jesus  could  be  wrathful  but  He  was  never 
irritated.  Of  these  examples  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
is  here  recorded,  for  as  He  went  with  Jairus,  amidst  the 
rude  and  violent  thronging  of  the  crowds,  moving  alone 
(as  men  often  are  in  sympathy  and  in  heart  alone  amid 
seething  thoroughfares),  He  suddenly  became  aware  of 
a  touch,  the  timid  and  stealthy  touch  of  a  broken-hearted 
woman,  pale  and  wasted  with  disease,  but  borne  through 
the  crowd  by  the  last  effort  of  despair  and  the  first 
energy  of  a  newborn  hope.  She  ought  not  to  have  come 
thither,  since  her  touch  spread  ceremonial  uncleanness 
far  and  wide.  Nor  ought  she  to  have  stolen  a  blessing 
instead  of  praying  for  it.  And  if  we  seek  to  blame  her 
still  further,  we  may  condemn  the  superstitious  notion 
that  Christ's  gifts  of  healing  were  not  conscious  and. 
lo\'ing  actions,  but  a  mere  contagion  of  health,  by  which 
one  might  profit  unfelt  and  undiscovered.  It  is  urged 
iiideed  that  hers  was  not  a  faith  thus  clouded,  but  so 
i....jestic  as  to  believe  that  Christ  would  know  and  re- 
spond to  the  silent  hint  of  a  gentle  touch.  And  is  it 
supposed  that  Jesus  would  have  dragged  into  publicily 
such  a  perfect  lily  of  the  vale  as  this  ?  and  what  means 


Mark  V.  2 1  -43 ,  ]  11  'ITH  J  A IR  US.  1 5  5 

her  trembling  confeHsion,  and  the  discovery  that  she 
could  not  be  hid?  But  when  our  keener  intellects  have 
criticised  her  errors,  and  our  clearer  ethics  have  frowned 
upon  her  misconduct,  one  fact  remains.  She  is  the 
only  woman  upon  whom  Jesus  is  recorded  to  have 
bestowed  any  epithet  but  a  formal  one.  Her  misery 
and  her  faith  drew  from  His  guarded  lips,  the  tender 
and  yet  lofty  word  Daughter. 

So  much  better  is  the  faith  which  seeks  for  blessing, 
however  erroneous  be  its  means,  than  the  heartless 
propriety  which  criticises  with  most  dispassionate 
clearness,  chiefly  because  it  really  seeks  nothing  for 
itself  at  all.  Such  faith  is  alwa3^s  an  appeal,  and  is 
responded  to,  not  as  she  supposed,  mechanically,  un- 
consciously, nor,  of  course,  by  the  opus  opcvatmn  of  a 
garment  touched  (or  of  a  sacrament  formally  received), 
but  by  the  going  forth  of  power  from  a  conscious 
Giver,  in  response  to  the  need  which  has  approached 
His  fulness.  He  knew  her  secret  and  fearful  approach 
to  Him,  as  He  knew  the  guileless  heart  of  Nathanael, 
whom  He  marked  beneath  the  fig-tree.  And  He  dealt 
with  her  very  gently.  Doubtless  there  are  many  such 
concealed  woes,  secret,  untold  miseries  which  eat  deep 
into  gentle  hearts,  and  are  never  spoken,  and  cannot, 
like  Bartimaeus,  cry  aloud  for  public  pity.  For  these 
also  there  is  balm  in  Gilead,  and  if  the  Lord  requires 
them  to  confess  Him  publicly,  He  will  first  give  them 
due  strength  to  do  so.  This  enfeebled  and  emaciated 
woman  was  allowed  to  feel  in  her  body  that  she  was 
healed  of  her  plague,  before  she  was  called  upon  for 
her  confession.  Jesus  asked,  Who  touched  my  clothes? 
It  was  one  thing  to  press  Him,  driven  forward  by  the 
multitude  around,  as  circumstances  impel  so  many  to 
become  churchgoers,  readers  of  Scripture,  interested  in 


156  GOSPEL    OF  ST.  MARK. 

sacred  questions  and  controversies  until  they  are  borne 
as  by  physical  propulsion  into  the  closest  contact  with 
our  Lord,  but  not  drawn  thither  by  any  personal  crav- 
ing or  sense  of  want,  nor  expecting  any  blessed  reaction 
of  "the  power  proceeding  from  Him."  It  was  another 
thing  to  reach  out  a  timid  hand  and  touch  appealingly 
even  that  tasselled  fringe  of  His  garment  which  had 
a  religious  significance,  whence  perhaps  she  drew  a 
semi-superstitious  hope.  In  the  face  of  this  incident, 
can  any  orthodoxy  forbid  us  to  believe  that  the  grace 
of  Christ  extends,  now  as  of  yore,  to  many  a  super- 
stitious and  erring  approach  by  which  souls  reach  after 
Christ  ? 

The  disciples  wondered  at  His  question  :  they  knew 
not  that  "  the  flesh  presses  but  faith  touches  ; "  but  as 
He  continued  to  look  around  and  seek  her  that  had 
done  this  thing,  she  fell  down  and  told  Him  all  the 
truth.  Fearing  and  trembling  she  spoke,  for  indeed 
she  had  been  presumptuous,  and  ventured  without 
permission.  But  the  chief  thing  was  that  she  had 
ventured,  and  so  He  graciously  replied.  Daughter,  thy 
faith  hath  made  thee  whole,  go  in  peace  and  be  whole 
of  thy  plague.  Thus  she  received  more  than  she  had 
asked  or  thought ;  not  only  healing  for  the  body,  but 
also  a  victory  over  that  self-effacing,  fearful,  half  mor- 
bid diffidence,  which  long  and  weakening  disease  entails. 
Thus  also,  instead  of  a  secret  cure,  she  was  given  the 
open  benediction  of  her  Lord,  and  such  confirmation  in 
her  privilege  as  many  more  would  enjoy  if  only  with 
their  mouth  confession  were  made  unto  salvation. 

While  He  yet  spoke,  and  the  heart  of  Jairus  was 
divided  between  joy  at  a  new  evidence  of  the  power 
of  Christ,  and  impatience  at  every  moment  of  delay, 
not  knowing  that  his  Benefactor  was  the  Lord  of  time 


Markv.  21-43.] 


WITH  JAIRUS.  *S7 


it.elf  the  fatal  message  came,  tinged  with  some  h  tie 
iroiw  as  it  asked,  Why  troublest  thou  the  Teacher 
any  more  ?  U  is  quite  certain  that  Jesus  had  be  ore 
now  raised  the  dead,  but  no  miracle  of  the  land_  had 
acquired  such  prominence  as  afterwards  to  clann  a 
place  in  the  Gospel   narratives. 

One  is  led  to  suspect  that  the  care  of  Jesus  had  pre- 
vailed   and  they  had  not  been  widely  published.     To 
those  who  brought  this  message,  perhaps  no  such  case 
had    travelled,    certainly    none   had    gained    their  cre- 
dence     It  was  in  their  eyes  a  thing  incredible  that  He 
should    raise    the    dead,  and    indeed    there  is  a    wade 
difference  between  every  other  miracle  and  this.     We 
struo-le  against  all  else,  but  when  death  comes  we  feel 
that^all  is  over  except  to  bury  out  of  our  sight  what 
once  was  beautiful  and  dear.     Death  is  destiny  made 
visible  •    it  is  the   irrevocable.      Who  shall  unsay  the 
words  of   a  bleeding  heart,  I  shall  go  to   him  but  he 
shall  not  return  to  me?     But  Christ  came  to  destroy 
him  that  had  the  power  of  death.     Even  now,  through 
Him    we  are  partakers  of  a  more  intense  and  deeper 
life    and  have  not  only  the  hope  but  the  beginning  of 
immortality.      And  it  was  the   natural  seal  upon  His 
lofty  mission,  that  He  should  publicly  raise  up  the  dead. 
For  so   great    a    task,    shall  we    say   that  Jesus    now 
gathers  ah  His  energies  ?     That  would  be  woefully  to 
misread  the  story;    for    a  grand    simplicity,    the  easy 
bearing  of  unstrained  and  amply  adequate  resources   is 
common  to  all  the  narratives  of  life  brought  back.     We 
shall  hereafter  see  good  reason  why  Jesus    employed 
means  for  other  miracles,  and  even  advanced  by  stages 
in  the  work.      But  lest  we  should  suppose  that  etlort 
^vas  necessary,  and  His  power  but  just  sufficed  to  over- 
come  the  resistance,  none  of  these  supreme  miracles 


1S8  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

is  wrought  with  the  sh'ghtest  effort.  Prop'.:ets  and 
apostles  may  need  to  stretch  themselves  upon  the  bed  or 
to  embrace  the  corpse  ;  Jesus,  in  His  own  noble  phrase, 
awakes  it  out  of  sleep.  A  wonderful  ease  and  quiet- 
ness pervade  the  narratives,  expressing  exactly  the 
serene  bearing  of  the  Lord  of  the  dead  and  of  the 
living.  There  is  no  holding  back,  no  toying  with  the 
sorrow  of  the  bereaved,  such  as  even  Euripides,  the 
tenderest  of  the  Greeks,  ascribed  to  the  demigod  who 
tore  from  the  grip  of  death  the  heroic  wife  of  Admetus. 
Hercules  plays  with  the  husband's  sorrow,  suggests 
the  consolation  of  a  new  bridal,  and  extorts  the  angry 
cry,  "Silence,  what  have  you  said?  I  would  not  have 
believed  it  of  you."  But  what  is  natural  to  a  hero, 
flushed  with  victory  and  the  sense  of  patronage,  would 
have  ill  become  the  absolute  self-possession  and  gentle 
grace  of  Jesus.  In  every  case,  therefore,  He  is  full  of 
encouragement  and  sympathy,  even  before  His  work  is 
wrought.  To  the  widow  of  Nain  He  says,  "  Weep  not." 
He  tells  the  sister  of  Lazarus,  ''  If  thou  wilt  believe, 
thou  shalt  see  the  salvation  of  God."  And  when  these 
disastrous  tidings  shake  all  the  faith  of  Jairus,  Jesus 
loses  not  a  moment  in  reassuring  Him  :  "  Fear  not, 
only  believe,"  He  says,  not  heeding  the  word  spoken  ; 
that  is  to  sa}'',  Himself  unagitated  and  serene.* 

In  every  case  some  co-operation  was  expected  from  the 
bystanders.  The  bearers  of  the  widow's  son  halted,  ex- 
pectant, when  this  majestic  and  tender  Wayfarer  touched 
the  bier.  The  friends  of  Lazarus  rolled  away  the  stone 
from  the  sepulchre.  But  the  professional  mourners  in 
the  house  of  Jairus  w^ere  callous  and  insensible,  and 


*  Unless  indeed  the  meaning  be  rather,   ^'  over  hearing  the  word," 
which  is  not  its  force  in  tlie  New  Testament  (Matt,  xviii.  17,  twice). 


IMarkv.  21-43-]  WITH  JAIRUS.  159 

when  He  interrupted  their  clamorous  wailing,  with  the 
question,  Why  make  ye  tumult  and  weep  ?  tl-;ey  lauglied 
Him  to  scorn  ;  a  fit  expression  of  the  world's  purblind 
incredulity,  its  reliance  upon  ordinary  "experience"  to 
disprove  all  possibilities  of  the  extraordinar}'-  and  Divine, 
and  its  heartless  transition  from  conventional  sorrow 
to  ghastly  laugliter,  m.ocking  in  the  presence  of  death 
— which  is,  in  its  view,  so  desperate — the  last  hope  of 
humanity.  Laughter  is  not  the  fitting  mood  in  which 
to  contradict  the  Christian  hope,  that  our  lost  ones  are 
not  dead,  but  sleep.  The  new  and  strange  hope  for 
humanity  which  Jesus  thus  asserted,  He  went  on  to 
prove,  but  not  for  them.  Exerting  that  moral  ascen- 
dency, which  sufficed  Him  twice  to  cleanse  the  Temple, 
He  put  them  all  forth,  as  already  He  had  slnit  out  the 
crowd,  and  all  His  disciples  but  "the  elect  of  His  elec- 
tion," the  three  who  now  first  obtain  a  special  privilege. 
The  scene  was  one  of  surpassing  solemnity  and  awe  ; 
but  not  more  so  than  that  of  Nain,  or  by  the  tomb  of 
Lazarus.  Why  then  were  not  only  the  idly  curious 
and  the  scornful,  but  nine  of  His  chosen  ones  excluded  ? 
Surely  we  may  believe,  for  the  sake  of  the  little  girl, 
whose  tender  grace  of  unconscious  maidenhood  should 
not,  in  its  hour  of  reawakened  vitalit}^,  be  the  centre 
of  a  gazing  circle.  He  kept  with  Him  the  deeply 
reverential  and  the  loving,  the  ripest  apostles  and  the 
parents  of  the  child,  since  love  and  reverence  are  ever 
the  conditions  of  real  insight.  And  then,  first,  was 
exhibited  the  gentle  and  profound  regard  of  Christ  for 
children.  He  did  not  arouse  her,  as  others,  with  a  call 
only,  but  took  her  by  the  hand,  while  He  spoke  to  her 
tliose  Aramaic  words,  so  marvellous  in  their  effect, 
which  St.  Peter  did  not  fail  to  repeat  to  St.  I^vlark  as  he 
had  heard  them,  Talitha  cumi;  Damsel,  I  say  unto  thee, 


i6o  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

Arise.  They  have  an  added  sweetness  when  we  reflect 
that  the  former  word,  though  appHed  to  a  very  young 
child,  is  in  its  root  a  variation  of  the  word  for  a  httle 
lamb.  How  exquisite  from  the  lips  of  the  Good  Shep- 
herd, Who  gave  His  life  for  the  sheep.  How  strange 
to  be  thus  awakened  from  the  m3'sterious  sleep,  and  to 
gaze  with  a  child's  fresh  eyes  into  the  loving  eyes  of 
Jesus.  Let  us  seek  to  realise  such  positions,  to  com- 
prehend the  marvellous  heart  which  they  reveal  to  us, 
and  we  shall  derive  more  love  and  trust  from  the  effort 
than  from  all  such  doctrinal  inference  and  allegorizing 
as  would  dry  up,  into  3.  hortus  siccus,  the  sweetest  blooms 
of  the  sweetest  story  ever  told. 

So  shall  we  understand  what  happened  next  in  all 
three  cases.  Something  preternatural  and  therefore 
dreadful,  appeared  to  hang  about  the  lives  so  won- 
drously  restored.  The  widow  of  Nain  did  not  dare  to 
embrace  her  son  until  Christ  "gave  him  to  his  mother." 
The  bystanders  did  not  touch  Lazarus,  bound  hand  and 
foot,  until  Jesus  bade  them  "  loose  him  and  let  him  go." 
And  the  five  who  stood  about  this  child's  bed,  amazed 
straightway  with  a  great  amazement,  had  to  be  reminded 
that  leing  now  in  perfect  health,  after  an  illness  which 
left  her  system  wholly  unsupplied,  something  should  be 
given  her  to  eat.  This  is  the  point  at  which  Euripides 
could  find  nothing  fitter  for  Hercules  to  utter  than  the 
awkward  boast,  "  Thou  wilt  some  day  say  that  the 
son  of  Jove  was  a  capital  guest  to  entertain."  What  a 
contrast.  For  Jesus  was  utterly  unflushed,  undazzled, 
apparently  unconscious  of  anything  to  disturb  His 
composure.  And  so  far  was  He  from  the  unhappy 
modern  notion,  that  every  act  of  grace  must  be  pro- 
claimed on  the  housetop,  and  every  recipient  of  grace 
however  young,  however  unmatured,  paraded  and  ex- 


Markv.  2I-43-]  WITH  JAIRUS.  i6i 


hibited,  that  He  charged  them  much  that  no  man  should 
know  this. 

The  story  throughout  is  graphic  and  full  of  character  ; 
every  touch,  every  word  reveals  the  Divine  Man  ;  and 
only  reluctance  to  believe  a  miracle  prevents  it  from 
proving  itself  to  every  candid  mind.  Whether  it  be  ac- 
cepted or  rejected,  it  is  itself  miraculous.  It  could  not 
have  grown  up  in  the  soil  which  generated  the  early 
myths  and  legends,  by  the  working  of  the  ordinary  laws 
of  mind.  It  is  beyond  their  power  to  invent  or  to 
dream,  supernatural  in   the  strictest  sense. 

This  miracle  completes  the  cycle.  Nature,  distracted 
by  the  Fall,  has  revolted  against  Him  in  vain.  Satan, 
intrenched  in  his  last  stronghold,  has  resisted,  and 
humbled  himself  to  entreaties  and  to  desperate  contriv- 
ances, in  vain.  Secret  and  unspoken  woes,  and  silent 
germs  of  belief,  have  hidden  from  Him  in  vain.  Death 
itself  has  closed  its  bony  fingers  upon  its  prey,  in  vain. 
Nothing  can  resist  the  power  and  love,  which  are 
enlisted  on  behalf  of  all  who  put  their  trust  in  Jesus. 


1  - 


CHAPTER   VI. 

REJECTED   IN  HIS   OWN  COUNTRY. 

"  And   He   went  out  from   thence  ;  nnd   He  cometh   into  His  own 
country;  and  His  diiciplcs  follow  Him." — Mark  vi.  i-6  (R.V.). 

WE  have  seen  how  St.  Mark,  to  bring  out  more 
vividly  the  connection  between  four  mighty 
signs,  their  ideal  completeness  as  a  whole,  and  that 
mastery  over  nature  and  the  spiritual  world  which  they 
reveal,  grouped  them  resolutely  together,  excluding 
even  significant  incidents  which  would  breali  in  upon 
their  sequence.  Bearing  this  in  mind,  how  profoundly 
instructive  it  is  that  our  Evangelist  shows  us  this 
Master  over  storm  and  demons,  over  too-silent  disease, 
and  over  death,  too  clamorously  bewailed,  in  the  next 
place  teaching  His  own  countrymen  in  vain,  and  an 
offence  to  them.  How  startling  to  read,  at  this  juncture, 
when  legend  would  surely  have  thrown  all  men  pros- 
trate at  his  feet,  of  His  homely  family  and  His  trade, 
and  how  He  Who  rebuked  the  storm  "  could  there  do 
no  mighty  work." 

First  of  all,  it  is  touching  to  see  Jesus  turning  once 
more  to  "  His  own  country,"  just  at  this  crisis.  They 
had  rejected  Him  in  a  frenzy  of  rage,  at  the  outset  of 
His  ministry.  And  He  had  very  lately  repulsed  the 
rude  attempt  of  His  immediate  relatives  to  interrupt 
His  mission.  But  now  His  h.er.rt  leads  Hi'n  thither, 
once  again  to  appeal  to  the  companions  of  His  youth, 


Mark vi.  1-6.]     REJECTED   IN  HIS   OWN  COUNTRY.         163 

with  the  halo  of  His  recent  and  surpassing  works  upon 
His  forehead.  He  does  not  abruptly  interrupt  their 
vocations,  but  waits  as  before  for  the  Sabbath,  and 
the  hushed  assembly  in  the  sacred  place.  And  as  He 
teaches  in  the  synagogue,  they  are  conscious  of  His 
power.  Whence  could  He  have  these  things  ?  His 
wisdom  was  an  equal  wonder  with  His  mighty  works, 
of  the  reality  of  which  they  could  not  doubt.  And  what 
excuse  then  had  they  for  listening  to  His  wisdom  in 
vain  ?  But  they  went  on  to  ask.  Is  not  this  the  car- 
penter ?  the  Son  of  Mary?  they  knew  His  brothers, 
and  His  sisters  were  living  among  them.  And  they 
were  offended  in  Him,  naturally  enough.  It  is  hard  to 
believe  in  the  supremacy  of  one,  whom  circumstances 
marked  as  our  equal,  and  to  admit  the  chieftainship  of 
one  who  started  side  by  side  with  us.  In  Palestine 
it  was  not  disgraceful  to  be  a  tradesman,  but  yet  they 
could  fairly  claim  equality  with  "  the  carpenter."  And 
it  is  plain  enough  that  they  found  no  impressive  or 
significant  difference  from  their  neighbours  in  the 
"  sisters  "  of  Jesus,  nor  even  in  her  whom  all  genera- 
tions call  blessed.  Why  then  should  they  abase  them- 
selves before  the  claims  of  Jesus? 

It  is  an  instructive  incident.  First  of  all,  it  shows 
us  the  perfection  of  our  Lord's  abasement.  He  was  not 
only  a  carpenter's  son,  but  what  this  passage  only  de- 
clares to  us  explicitly.  He  wrought  as  an  artizan,  and 
consecrated  for  ever  a  lowly  trade,  by  the  toil  of  those 
holy  limbs  whose  sufferings  should  redeem  the  world. 

And  we  learn  the  abject  folly  of  judging  by  mere 
worldly  standards.  We  are  bound  to  give  due  honour 
and  precedence  to  rank  and  station.  Refusing  to  do 
this,  we  virtually  undertake  to  dissolve  society,  and 
readjust   it   upon   other   principles,  or   by  instincts  and 


1 64  GOSPEL    OF  ST.  MARK. 


intuitions  of  our  own,  a  grave  task,  when  it  is  realized. 
But  we  are  not  to  be  dazzled,  much  less  to  be  misled,  by 
the  advantages  of  station  or  of  birth.  Yet  if,  as  it  would 
seem,  Nazareth  rejected  Christ  because  He  was  not  a 
person  of  quality,  this  is  only  the  most  extreme  and 
ironical  exhibition  of  what  happens  every  day,  when  a 
noble  character,  self-denying,  self-controlled  and  wise, 
fails  to  win  the  respect  which  is  freely  and  gladly 
granted  to  vice  and  foll}^  in  a  coronet. 

And  yet,  to  one  who  reflected,  the  very  objection  they 
put  forward  was  an  evidence  of  His  mission.  His 
wisdom  was  confessed,  and  His  miracles  were  not 
denied ;  were  they  less  wondetful  or  more  amazing, 
more  supernatural,  as  the  endowments  of  the  carpenter 
whom  they  knew  ?  Whence,  they  asked,  had  He  de- 
rived His  learning,  as  if  it  were  not  more  noble  for 
being  original. 

Are  we  sure  that  men  do  not  still  make  the  same 
mistake  ?  The  perfect  and  lowly  humanity  of  Jesus 
is  a  stumbling  block  to  some  who  will  freely  admit 
His  ideal  perfections,  and  the  matchless  nobility  of  His 
moral  teaching.  They  will  grant  anything  but  the 
supernatural  origin  of  Him  to  Whom  they  attribute 
qualities  beyond  parallel.  But  whence  had  He  those 
qualities  ?  What  is  there  in  the  Galilee  of  the  first 
century  which  prepares  one  for  discovering  there  and 
then  the  revolutionizer  of  the  virtues  of  the  world,  the 
most  original,  profound,  and  unique  of  all  teachers.  Him 
Whose  example  is  still  mightier  than  His  precepts,  and 
only  not  more  perfect,  because  these  also  are  without 
a  flaw.  Him  Whom  even  unbelief  would  shrink  from 
saluting  by  so  cold  a  title  as  that  of  the  most  saintly  of 
the  saints.  To  ask  with  a  clear  scrutiny,  whence  the 
teaching  of  Jesus  came,  to  realize  the  isolation  from  all 


Mark  vi.  1-6.]     REJECTED  IN  HIS   OWN  COUNTRY.         165 

centres  of  thought  and  movement,  of  this  Hebrew,  this 
provincial  among  Hebrews,  this  villager  in  Galilee,  this 
carpenter  in  a  village,  and  then  to  observe  His  mighty 
works  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  is  enough  to  satisfy 
all  candid  minds  that  His  earthly  circumstances  have 
something  totally  unlike  themselves  behind  them.  And 
the  more  men  give  ear  to  materialism  and  to  materialistic 
evolution  without  an  evolving  mind,  so  much  the  more 
does  the  problem  press  upon  them.  Whence  hath  this 
man  this  wisdom?  and  what  mean  these  mighty  works? 

From  our  Lord's  own  commentary  upon  their  rejec- 
tion we  learn  to  beware  of  the  vulgarising  effects  of- 
familiarity.  They  had  seen  His  holy  youth,  against 
which  no  slander  was  ever  breathed.  And  yet,  while 
His  teaching  astonished  them.  He  had  no  honour  in 
his  own  house.  It  is  the  same  result  which  so  often 
seems  to  follow  from  a  lifelong  familiarity  with  Scripture 
and  the  means  of  grace.  We  read,  almost  mechanicall}^, 
what  melts  and  amazes  the  pagan  to  whom  it  is  a  new 
word.  We  forsake,  or  submit  to  the  dull  routine  of, 
ordinances  the  most  sacred,  the  most  searching,  the 
most  invigorating  and  the  most  picturesque. 

And  yet  we  wonder  that  the  men  of  Nazareth  could 
not  discern  the  divinity  of  "  the  carpenter,"  whose 
family  lived  quiet  and  unassuming  lives  in  their  own 
village. 

It  is  St.  Mark,  the  historian  of  the  energies  of  Christ, 
who  tells  us  that  He  "  could  there  do  no  mighty  work," 
with  only  sufficient  exception  to  prove  that  neither 
physical  power  nor  compassion  was  what  failed  Him, 
since  "  He  laid  His  hands  upon  a  {(t\N  sick  folk  and 
healed  them."  What  then  is  conveyed  by  this  bold 
phrase  ?  Surely  the  fearful  power  of  the  human  will 
to  resist  the  will  of  man's  compassionate  Redeemer. 


1 56  GOSPEL    OF  ST.  MARK. 

He  would  have  gathered  Jerusalem  under  His  wing, 
but  she  would  not ;  and  the  temporal  results  of  her 
disobedience  had  to  follow  ;  siege,  massacre  and  ruin. 
God  has  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  him  who  dieth, 
yet  death  follows,  as  the  inevitable  wages  of  sin. 
Therefore,  as  surely  as  the  miracles  of  Jesus  typified 
His  gracious  purposes  for  the  souls  of  men.  Who 
forgiveth  all  our  iniquities.  Who  healeth  all  our  dis- 
eases, so  surely  the  rejection  and  defeat  of  those  loving 
purposes  paralysed  the  arm  stretched  out  to  heal 
their  sick. 

Does  it  seem  as  if  the  words  "  He  could  not,"  even 
thus  explained,  convey  a  certain  affront,  throw  a  shadow 
upon  the  glory  of  our  Master  ?  And  the  words  "  they 
mocked,  scourged,  crucified  Him,"  do  these  convey  no 
affront  t  The  suffering  of  Jesus  was  not  only  physical : 
His  heart  was  wounded ;  His  overtures  were  rejected  ; 
His  hands  were  stretched  out  in  vain  ;  His  pity  and 
love  were  crucified. 

But  now  let  this  be  considered,  that  men  who  refuse 
His  Spirit  continually  presume  upon  His  mercy,  and 
expect  not  to  suffer  the  penalty  of  their  evil  deeds. 
Alas,  that  is  impossible.  Where  unbelief  rejected  His 
teaching,  He  "could  not"  work  the  marvels  of  His 
grace.  How  shall  they  escape  who  reject  so  great 
salvation  ? 


Mark vi.  7- 1 3-]     ^"^^^   MISSION  OF  THE    TWELVE.  167 


THE  MISSION  OF  THE    TWELVE. 

"  And  He  called  unto  Him  the  twelve,  and  began  to  send  them  forth 
by  two  and  two  ;  and  He  gave  them  authority  over  the  unclean  spirits  ; 
and  He  charged  them  that  they  should  take  nothing  for  ^//^V journey, 
save  a  staff  only  ;  no  bread,  no  wallet,  no  money  in  their  purse  ;  but  io 
go  shod  with  sandals  :  and,  said  He,  put  not  on  two  coats.  And  He 
said  unto  them,  Wheresoever  ye  enter  into  a  house,  there  abide  till  ye 
depart  thence.  And  whatsoever  place  shall  not  receive  you,  and  they 
hear  you  not,  as  ye  go  forth  thence,  shake  off  the  dust  that  is  under  your 
feet  for  a  testimony  unto  them.  And  they  went  out,  and  preached  that 
vten  should  repent.  And  they  cast  out  many  devils,  and  anointed  with 
oil  many  that  were  sick,  and  healed  them."— Mark  vi.  7-13  (R.V.). 

Repulsed  a  second  time  from  the  cradle  of  His  youth, 
even  as  lately  from  Decapolis,  with  what  a  heavy  heart 
must  the  Loving  One  have  turned  away.  Yet  we  read 
of  no  abatement  of  His  labours.  He  did  not,  hke  the 
fiery  prophet,  wander  into  the  desert  and  make  request 
that  He  might  die.  And  it  helps  us  to  realise  the 
elevation  of  our  Lord,  when  we  reflect  how  utterly 
the  discouragement  with  which  we  sympathise  in  the 
great  Elijah  would  ruin  our  conception  of  Jesus. 

It  was  now  that  He  set  on  foot  new  efforts,  and 
advanced  in  the  training  of  His  elect.  For  Himself, 
He  went  about  the  villages,  whither  slander  and  pre- 
judice had  not  yet  penetrated,  and  was  content  to 
break  new  ground  among  the  most  untaught  and 
sequestered  of  the  people.  The  humblest  field  of 
labour  was  not  too  lowly  for  the  Lord,  although  we 
meet,  every  day,  with  men  who  are  "  thrown  away " 
and  "  buried "  in  obscure  fields  of  usefulness.  We 
have  not  yet  learned  to  follow  v^dthout  a  murmur  the 
Carpenter,  and  the  Teacher  in  villages,  even  though  we 
are  soothed  in  grief  by  thinking,  because  we  endure  the 
inevitable,  that  we  are  followers  of  the  Man  of  Sorrows. 


i68  GOSPEL   OF  ST.  MARfC. 

At  the  same  moment  when  democracies  and  priesthoods 
are  rejecting  their  Lord,  a  king  had  destroyed  His 
forerunner.  On  every  account  it  was  necessary  to 
vary  as  well  as  multiply  the  means  for  the  evangelisation 
of  the  country.  Thus  the  movement  would  be  ac- 
celerated, and  it  would  no  longer  present  one  solitary 
point  of  attack  to  its  unscrupulous  foes. 

Jesus  therefore  called  to  Him  the  Twelve,  and  began 
to  send  them  forth.  In  so  doing.  His  directions  revealed 
at  once  His  wisdom  and  His  fears  for  them. 

Not  even  for  unfallen  man  was  it  good  to  be  alone. 
It  was  a  bitter  ingredient  in  the  cup  which  Christ 
Himself  drank,  that  His  followers  should  be  scattered 
to  their  own  and  leave  Him  alone.  And  it  was  at  the 
last  extremity,  when  he  could  no  longer  forbear,  that 
St.  Paul  thought  it  good  to  be  at  Athens  alone.  Jesus 
therefore  would  not  send  His  inexperienced  heralds 
forth  for  the  first  time  except  by  two  and  two,  that  each 
might  sustain  the  courage  and  wisdom  of  his  comrade. 
And  His  example  was  not  forgotten.  Peter  and  John 
together  visited  the  converts  in  Samaria.  And  when 
Paul  and  Barnabas,  whose  first  journey  was  together, 
could  no  longer  agree,  each  of  them  took  a  new  comrade 
end  departed.  Perhaps  our  modern  missionaries  lose 
more  in  energy  than  is  gained  in  area  by  neglecting  so 
humane  a  precedent,  and  forfeiting  the  special  presence 
vouchsafed  to  the  common  worship  of  two  or  three. 

St.  Mark  has  not  recorded  the  mission  of  the  seventy 
evangelists,  but  this  narrative  is  clearly  coloured  by 
his  knowledge  of  that  event.  Thus  He  does  not 
mention  the  gift  of  miraculous  power,  Vv'hich  was 
common  to  both,  but  He  does  tell  of  the  authority 
over  unclean  spirits,  which  was  explicitly  given  to  the 
Twelve,    and  which  the   Seventy,   returning  with  joy, 


Mark  vi.  7-13-1      TfJE   MISSION  OF   THE    TWELVE.  169 


related  that  they  also  had  successfully  dared  to  claim. 
In  conferring  such  power  upon  His  disciples,  Jesus 
took  the  first  step  towards  that  marvellous  identification 
of  Himself  and  His  mastery  over  evil,  with  all  His 
followers,  that  giving  of  His  presence  to  their  assemblies, 
His  honour  to  their  keeping,  His  victory  to  their 
experience,  and  His  lifeblood  to  tiieir  veins,  which 
makes  Him  the  second  Adam,  represented  in  all  the  new- 
born race,  and  which  finds  its  most  vivid  and  blessed 
expression  in  the  sacrament  where  His  flesh  is  meat 
indeed  and  His  blood  is  drink  indeed.  Now  first  He 
is  seen  to  commit  His  powers  and  His  honour  into 
mortal  hands. 

In  doing  this,  He  impressed  on  them  the  fact  that 
they  were  not  sent  at  first  upon  a  toilsome  and 
protracted  journey.  Their  personal  connection  with 
Him  was  not  broken  but  suspended  for  a  little  while. 
Hereafter,  they  would  need  to  prepare  for  hardship, 
and  he  that  had  two  coats  should  take  them.  It  was 
not  so  novv' :  sandals  would  suffice  their  feet ;  they 
should  carry  no  wallet ;  only  a  staft"  was  needed  for 
their  brief  excursion  through  a  hospitable  land.  But 
hospitality  itself  would  have  its  dangers  for  them, 
and  when  warmly  received  they  might  be  tempted  to 
be  feted  by  various  hosts,  enjoying  the  first  enthusiastic 
welcome  of  each,  and  refusing  to  share  afterwards  the 
homely  domestic  life  which  w^ould  succeed.  Yet  it  was 
when  they  ceased  to  be  strangers  that  their  influence 
would  really  be  strongest;  and  so  there  was  good 
reason,  both  for  the  sake  of  the  family  they  might 
win,  and  for  themselves  who  should  not  become  se'f- 
indulgent,  why  they  should  not  go  from  house  to 
house. 

These  directions  were  not  meant  to  become  universal 


1 70  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

rules,  and  we  have  seen  how  Jesus  afterwards  expHcitly 
varied  them.  But  their  spirit  is  an  admonition  to  all 
who  are  tempted  to  forget  their  mission  in  personal 
advantages  which  it  may  offer.  Thus  commissioned 
and  endowed,  they  should  feel  as  they  went  the  great- 
ness of  the  message  they  conveyed.  Wherever  they 
were  rejected,  no  false  meekness  should  forbid  their 
indignant  protest,  and  they  should  refuse  to  carry 
even  the  dust  cf  that  evil  and  doomed  place  upon 
their  feet. 

And  they  went  forth  and  preached  repentance,  cast- 
ing out  many  devils,  and  healing  many  that  were  sick. 
In  doing  this,  they  anointed  them  with  oil,  as  St.  James 
afterwards  directed,  but  as  Jesus  never  did.  He  used 
no  means,  or  when  faith  needed  to  be  helped  by  a 
visible  application,  it  was  always  the  touch  of  His  own 
hand  or  the  moisture  of  His  own  lip.  The  distinction 
is  significant.  And  also  it  must  be  remembered  that  oil 
was  never  used  by  disciples  for  the  edification  of  the 
dying,  but  for  the  recovery  of  the  sick. 

By  this  new  agency  the  name  of  Jesus  was  more 
than  ever  spread  abroad,  until  it  reached  the  ears  of 
a  murderous  tyrant,  and  stirred  in  his  bosom  not  the 
repentance  which  they  preached,  but  the  horrors  of 
ineffectual  remorse. 

HEROD. 

"And  king  Herod  heard  thereof;  for  His  name  had  become  known  : 
and  he  said,  John  the  Baptist  is  risen  from  the  dead,  and  therefore  do 
these  powers  work  in  him.  But  others  said,  It  is  Elijah.  And  others 
said,  It  is  a  prophet,  even  as  one  of  the  prophets.  Bat  Herod,  wlien 
he  heard  thereof,  said,  John,  whom  I  beheaded,  lie  is  ristn.  For 
Herod  him-elf  had  sent  forth  and  laid  hold  upon  John,  and  bound  him 
in  prison  for  the  sake  of  Herodias,  his  brother  PhiHp's  wife  :  for  he 
had  married  her.  For  John  said  unto  Flerod,  It  is  not  lawful  for  thee 
to  have  thy  brother's  wife.     And  Herodias  set  herself  against  him,  and 


Mark  vi.  14-29-] 


HEROD.  171 


desii-eJ  to  kill  him  ;  and  she  could  not;  tor  Ilerod  feared  John,  know- 
ino-  that  he  was  a  righteous  man  and  a  holy,  and  kept  him  safe.  And 
when  he  heard  him,  he  uas  much  perplexec'  ;  and  he  heard  hm.  gladly. 
And  when  a  convenient  day  was  come,  that  Herod  on  his  bnlhaay 
made  a  supper  to  his  lords,  and  the  high  captains,  and  the  chief  men 
of  Galilee;  and  when  the  daughter  of  HerotMas  herself  came  m  and 
danced,  she  pleased  Herod  and  them  that  sat  it  meat  wuh  him  ;  and 
the  kin-  said  unto  the  damsel,  Ask  of  me  whatsoever  thou  wilt,  and  i 
will  cive  it  tliee.  And  he  sware  unt .  her,  Whatsoever  thou  shult  ask 
of  me,  I  will  give  it  thee,  unto  the  half  of  my  kingJom.  And  she  went 
out,  and  said  unto  her  mother.  What  shall  I  ask  ?  '  And  she  said,  The 
head  of  John  the  Baptist.  And  she  came  in  straightaway  with  haste 
unto  the  king,  and  asked,  saying,  I  will  that  thou  forthwith  give  me  m 
a  charger  the  head  of  John  the  Baptist.  And  the  king  was  exceeding 
sorry  ;  but  for  the  sake  of  his  oaths,  and  of  them  that  sat  at  meat,  he 
would  not  reject  her.  And  straightway  the  king  sent  forth  a  soldier 
of  his  guard,  and  commanded  to  bring  his  head  :  and  he  went  and 
beheaded  him  in  the  prison,  and  brought  his  head  in  a  charger,  and 
gave  it  to  the  damsel;  and  the  damsel  gave  it  to  her  mother.  And 
when  his  disciples  heard  thereof,  they  came  and  took  up  h;s  corpse, 
and  laid  it  in  a  tomb."— Mark  vi.  14-29  (R.V.). 

The  growing  influence  of  Jesus  demanded  the  mission 
of  the  Twelve,  and  this  in  its  turn  increased  His  fame 
until  it  alarmed  the  tetrarch  Herod.  An  Idunicean 
ruler  of  Israel  was  forced  to  dread  every  religious 
movement,  for  all  the  waves  of  Hebrew  fanaticism  bedt 
asainst  the  foreign  throne.  And  Herod  Antipas  was 
especiall}-'  the  creature  of  circumstances,  a  v/eak  and 
plastic  man.  He  is  the  Ahab  of  the  New  Testament, 
and  it  is  a  curious  coincidence  that  he  should  have  to 
do  v;ith  its  Elijah.  As  Ahab  fasted  when  he  heard  his 
doom,  and  postponed  the  evil  by  his  submission,  so 
Herod  was  impi-essed  and  agitated  by  the  teaching  of 
the  Baptist.  But  Ahab  surrendered  his  soul  to  the 
imperious  Jezebel,  and  Herod  was  ruined  by  Hei-odias. 
Each  is  the  sport  of  strong  influences  from  without, 
and  warns  us  that  a  man,  no  more  than  a  ship,  can 
hope  by  drifting  to  come  safe  to  haven. 


172  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

No  contrast  could  be  imagined  more  dramatic  than 
between  the  sleek  seducer  of  his  brother's  wife  and  the 
imperious  reformer,  rude  in  garment  and  frugal  of  fare, 
thundering  against  the  generation  of  vipers  who  were 
the  chiefs  of  his  religion. 

How  were  the.se  two  brought  together  ?  Did  the 
Baptist  stride  ursunrmoned  into  the  court?  Did  his 
crafty  foemen  contrive  his  ruin  by  inciting  the  Tetrarcli 
to  consult  him  ?  Or  did  that  restless  religious  curiosity, 
which  afterwards  desired  to  see  Jesus,  lead  Herod  to 
consult  his  forerunner  ?  The  abrupt  words  of  John 
are  not  unlike  an  answer  to  some  feeble  question  of 
casuistry,  some  plea  of  extenuating  circumstances  such 
as  all  can  urge  in  mitigation  of  their  worst  deeds.  He 
simply  'and  boldly  states  the  inflexible  ordinance  of 
God  :  It  is  not  lawful  for  thee  to  have  her. 

What  follows  may  teach  us  much, 

I.  it  warns  us  that  good  inclinations,  veneration  for 
holiness  in  others,  and  ineffectual  struggles  against  our 
own  vices,  do  not  guarantee  salvation.  He  who  feels 
them  is  not  God-forsaken,  since  every  such  emotion  is 
a  grace.  But  he  must  not  infer  that  he  never  may  be 
forsaken,  or  that  because  he  is  not  wholly  indifferent 
or  disobedient,  God  will  some  day  make  him  all  that 
his  better  moods  desire.  Such  a  man  should  be  warned 
by  Herod  Antipas.  Ruggedly  and  abruptl}!  rebuked, 
his  soul  recognised  and  did  homage  to  the  truthfulness 
of  his  teacher.  Admiration  replaced  the  anger  in  which 
he  cast  him  into  prison.  As  he  stood  between  him 
and  the  relentless  Herodias,  and  "  kept  him  safcl}^,"  he 
perhaps  believed  that  the  gloomy  dungeon,  and  the 
utter  interruption  of  a  great  career,  were  only  fur  the 
Baptist's  preservation.  Alas,  there  was  another  cause. 
He  was  "much  perplexed  "  :  he  dared  not  provoke  his 


Mark  vi.  14-29-]  HEROD.  I73 

temptress  by  releasing  the  man  of  God.  And  thus 
temporizing,  and  daily  weakening  the  voice  of  con- 
science by  disobedience,   he  was  lost. 

2.  It  is  distinctly  a  bad  omen  that  he  "  heard  him 
gladly,"  since  he  had  no  claim  to  well-founded  reli- 
gious happiness.  Our  Lord  had  already  observed  the 
shallowness  of  men  who  immediately  with  joy  receive 
the  word,  yet  have  no  root.  But  this  guilty  man, 
disquieted  by  the  reproaches  of  memory  and  the 
demands  of  conscience,  found  it  a  relief  to  hear  stern 
truth,  and  to  see  from  far  the  beauteous  light  of 
righteousness.  He  would  not  reform  his  life,  but  he 
would  fain  keep  his  sensibilities  alive.  It  was  so  that 
Italian  brigands  used  to  maintain  a  priest.  And  it 
is  so  that  fraudulent  British  tradesmen  too  frequently 
pass  for  religious  men.  People  cry  shame  on  their 
hypocrisy.  Yet  perhaps  they  less  often  wear  a  mask 
to  deceive  others  than  a  cloke  to  keep  their  own  hearts 
warm,  and  should  not  be  quoted  to  prove  that  religion 
is  a  deceit,  but  as  witnesses  that  even  the  most  worldly 
soul  craves  as  much  of  it  as  he  can  assimilate.  So  it 
was  with  Herod  Antipas. 

3.  But  no  man  can  serve  two  masters.  He  who  re- 
fuses the  command  of  God  to  choose  whom  he  will  serve, 
in  calmness  and  meditation,  when  the  means  of  grace 
and  the  guidance  of  the  Spirit  are  with  him,  shall  hear 
some  day  the  voice  of  the  Tempter,  derisive  and  trium- 
phant, amid  evil  companions,  when  flushed  with  guilty 
excitements  and  with  sensual  desires,  and  deeply  com- 
mitted by  rash  words  and  "  honour  rooted  in  dishonour," 
bidding  him  choose  now,  and  choose  finally.  Salome 
will  tolerate  neither  weak  hesitation  nor  half  measure; 
she  must  herself  possess  "  forthwith  "  the  head  of  her^ 
mother's  foe,  which  is  worth  more  than  half  the  kingdomj 


174  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

since  his  influence  might  rob  them  of  it  aU.  And  the 
king  was  exceeding  sorry,  but  chose  to  be  a  murderer 
rather  than  be  taken  for  a  perjurer  by  tlie  bad  com- 
panions who  sat  with  him.  What  a  picture  of  a  craven^ 
soul,  enskived  even  in  the  purple.  And  of  the  meshes 
for  his  own  feet  which  that  man  weaves,  who  gathers 
around  him  such  friends  that  their  influence  will  surely 
mislead  his  lonely  soul  in  its  future  struggles  to  be 
virtuous.  What  a  lurid  light  does  this  passage  throw 
upon  another  and  a  worse  scene,  when  we  meet  Herod 
again,  not  without  the  tyrannous  influence  of  his  men 
of  war. 

4.  We  learn  the  mysterious  interconnection  of  sin 
with  sin.  Vicious  luxury  and  self-indulgence,  the 
plastic  feebleness  of  character  which  half  yields  to  John, 
yet  cannot  break  with  Herodias  altogether,  these  do  not 
seem  likely  to  end  in  murder.  They  have  scarcely 
strength  enough,  we  feel,  for  a  great  crime.  Alas,  they 
have  feebleness  enough  for  it,  for  he  who  j  jins  in  the 
dance  of  the  graces  may  give  his  hand  to  the  furies 
unawares.  Nothing  formidable  is  to  be  seen  in  Herod, 
up  to  the  fatal  moment  when  revelr}',  and  the  influence 
of  his  associates,  and  the  graceful  dancing  of  a  woman 
whose  beauty  was  pitiless,  urged  him  irresistibly  for- 
ward to  bathe  his  shrinking  hands  in  blood.  And  from 
this  time  forward  he  is  a  lost  man.  When  a  greater 
than  John  is  reported  to  be  working  miracles,  he  has  a 
wild  explanation  for  the  new  portent,  and  his  agitation 
is  betrayed  in  his  broken  words,  "John,  whom  I  be- 
headed, he  is  risen."  "  For  "  St.  Mark  adds  with  quiet 
but  grave  significance,  "Herod  hirusclf  had  sent  forth 
and  laid  hold  upon  John,  and  bound  him."  Others  might 
speak  of  a  mere  teacher,  but  the  conscience  of  Herod 
will  not  suffer  it  to  be  so  ;  it  is  his  victim  ;  he  has  learnt 


Mark  vi.  14-29.]  HEROD.  175 

the  secret  of  eternity  ;  "  and  therefore  do  tliese  powers 
work  in  him."     Yet  Herod  was  a  Sadducee. 

5.  These  words  are  dramatic  enough  to  prove  them- 
selves; it  would  have  tasked  Shakespere  to  invent  them. 
But  they  involve  the  ascription  from  the  first  of  unearthly 
powers  to  Jesus,  and  they  disprove,  what  sceptics  would 
fain  persuade  us,  that  miracles  were  inevitably  ascribed, 
by  the  credulity  of  the  age,  to  all  great  teachers,  since 
John  wrought  none,  and  the  astonishing  theory  that 
he  had  graduated  in  another  world,  was  invented  by 
Herod  to  account  for  those  of  Jesus.  How  inevitable 
it  was  that  such  a  man  should  set  at  nought  our  Lord. 
Dread,  and  moral  repulsion,  and  the  suspicion  that  he 
himself  vi^as  the  mark  against  which  all  the  powers  of 
the  avenger  would  be  directed,  these  would  not  produce 
a  mood  in  which  to  comprehend  One  who  did  not  strive 
nor  cry.  To  them  it  was  a  supreme  relief  to  be  able  to 
despise  Christ. 

Elsewhere  we  can  trace  the  gradual  cessation  of  the 
alarm  of  Herod.  At  first  he  dreads  the  presence  of  the 
new  Teacher,  and  yet  dares  not  assail  Him  openly. 
And  so,  when  Jesus  was  advised  to  go  thence  or  Herod 
would  kill  Him,  He  at  once  knew  who  had  instigated 
the  crafty  monition,  and  sent  back  his  defiance  to  that 
fox.  But  even  fear  quickly  dies  in  a  callous  heart,  and 
only  curiosity  survives.  Herod  is  soon  glad  to  see 
Jesus,  and  hopes  that  He  may  work  a  miracle.  For 
religious  curiosity  and  the  love  of  spiritual  excitement 
often  survive  grace,  just  as  the  love  of  stimulants  sur- 
vives the  healthy  appetite  for  bread.  But  our  Lord, 
Who  explained  so  much  for  Pilate,  spoke  not  a  v/ord  to 
him.  And  the  wretch,  whom  once  the  forerunner  had 
all  but  won,  now  set  the  Christ  Himself  at  nought,  and 
mocked  Him.     So  3^et  does  the  God  of  this  world  blind 


176  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

the  e3-es  cf  the  unbeheving.  So  great  are  st'll  the 
dangers  of  hesitation,  since  not  to  be  for  Christ  is  to 
be  against  Mini. 

6.  But  the  blood  of  the  martyr  was  not  shed  before 
his  work  was  done.  As  the  faihng  blossom  admits  the 
sunshine  to  the  fruit,  so  the  herald  died  when  his 
influence  might  have  clashed  with  the  growing  inOuence 
of  his  Lord,  Whom  the  Twelve  v^  ere  at  last  trained  to 
proclaim  far  and  wide.  At  a  stroke,  his  best  followers 
were  naturally  transferred  to  Jesus,  Whose  way  he  had 
prepared.  Rightly,  therefore,  has  St.  Mark  placed  the 
narrative  at  this  juncture,  and  very  significantly  does 
St.  Matthew  relate  that  his  disciples,  when  they  had 
buried  him,  "  came  and  told  Jesus." 

Upon  the  path  of  our  Lord  Himself  this  violent  death 
fell  as  a  heavy  shadow.  Nor  was  He  unconscious  ol 
its  menace,  for  after  the  transfiguration  He  distinctly 
connected  with  a  prediction  of  His  own  death,  the  fact 
that  they  had  done  to  Elias  also  whatsoever  they  listed. 
Such  connections  of  thought  help  us  to  realise  the  truth, 
that  not  once  only,  but  throughout  His  ministry.  He 
Who  bids  us  bear  our  cross  while  we  follow  Him,  was 
consciously  bearing  His  own.  We  must  not  limit  to 
"three  days"  the  sorrows  which  redeemed  the  world. 

BREAD  IN   THE   DESERT. 

"  And  the  apostles  gather  themselves  together  unto  Jesus  ;  and  they 
told  Ilim  all  things,  whatsoever  they  had  done,  and  whatsoever  thf^y 
had  taught.  And  Me  saith  unto  th;m,  Come  ye  yourselves  apart  into  a 
destrt  place,  and  re^t  awhile.  For  there  were  many  coming  and  going, 
and  tliey  had  no  lei-ure  so  much  as  to  eat.  And  they  went  away  in 
the  boat  to  a  desert  place  apart.  And  the  people  saw  tlieui  i,;o.ng,  and 
many  knew  them,  and  they  ran  there  together  on  foot  from  ail  the 
cities,  and  outwent  them.  And  He  came  forth  and  saw  a  great 
niullitude,   and  He  had  compassion  on    them,    because  they  were  as 


Mark  vi.  30-46.]       BREAD   IN   THE   DESERT.  177 

sheep  not  having  a  shepherd  :  and  He  began  to  teach  them  many- 
things.  And  when  tlie  day  was  now  far  spent,  His  disciples  came 
unto  Him,  and  said.  The  place  is  desert,  and  the  day  is  now  lar  spent  : 
send  them  away,  that  they  may  go  into  the  country  and  vdlages  roun<.l 
about,  and  buy  themselves  somewhat  to  eat.  But  He  answa-red  arid 
said  unto  them,  Give  ye  them  to  eat.  And  they  say  unto  Him,  .Shall 
we  go  and  buy  two  hundred  pennyworth  of  bread,  and  give  them  to 
eat?  And  He  saith  unto  them,  How  rr  any  loaves  have  ye  ?  go  and 
see.  And  when  they  knew,  they  say.  Five,  and  two  fishes.  And  He 
commanded  them  that  all  should  sit  down  by  companies  upon  the 
green  grass.  And  they  sat  down  in  ranks,  by  hundreds,  and  by  fifties. 
And  He  took  the  five  loaves  and  the  two  liihes,  and  looking  up  to 
heaven,  He  blessed,  and  brake  the  loaves;  and  He  gave  to  the  disciples 
to  set  before  them  ;  and  the  two  fishes  divided  He  among  them  all. 
And  they  did  all  eat,  and  were  filled.  And  they  took  up  broken  pieces, 
twelve  basketfuls,  and  also  of  the  fishes.  And  they  that  ate  the  loave 
were  five  thousand  men.  And  straightway  He  constrained  His 
disciples  to  enter  into  the  boat,  and  to  go  bei'ore  Him  unto  the  other 
side  to  Bethsaida,  while  He  Himself  sendeth  the  multitude  away. 
And  after  He  had  takeir  leave  of  them  He  departed  into  the  mountain 
to  pray."' — Mark  vi.  30-46  (R.V.). 

The  Aposlle.s,  nov/  first  called  by  that  name,  because 
now  first  these  ''  Messengers  "  had  carried  the  message 
of  their  Lord,  returned  and  told  Him  all,  the  miracles 
they  had  performed,  and  whatever  they  had  taught. 
From  the  latter  clause  it  is  plain  that  to  preach  "  that 
men  should  repent,"  involved  arguments,  motives,  pro- 
mises, and  perhaps  threatenings  which  rendered  it  no 
meagre  announcement.  It  is  in  truth  a  demand  which 
involves  free  will  and  responsibility  as  its  bases,  and 
has  hell  or  heaven  for  the  result  of  disobedience  or 
compliance.  Into  what  controversies  may  it  have  led 
these  first  preachers  of  Jesus  !  All  v/as  now  submi:;ted 
to  the  judgment  of  their  Master.  And  happy  are  they 
still  who  do  not  shrink  from  the  healing  pain  of 
bringing  all  their  actions  and  words  to  Him,  and 
hearlcening  what  the  Lord  will  speak. 

Upon  the  whole,   they  brought  a  record  of  success, 

12 


178  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

And  around  Mini  also  were  so  many  coming  and  going 
that  they  liad  no  leisure  so  much  as  to  eat.  Where- 
upon Jesus  draws  them  aside  to  rest  awhile.  For  the 
balance  must  never  be  forgotten  between  the  outer  and 
the  inner  life.  The  Lord  Himself  spent  the  follow- 
ing night  in  prayer,  until  He  saw  the  distress  of  His 
disciples,  and  came  to  them  upon  the  waves.  And  the 
time  was  at  hand  when  they,  who  now  rejoiced  that 
the  devils  were  subject  unto  them,  should  learn  by 
sore  humiliation  and  defeat  that  this  kind  goeth  not 
forth  except  by  prayer.  We  may  be  certain  that  it 
was  not  bodily  repose  alone  that  Jesus  desired  for  his 
flushed  and  excited  ambassadors,  in  the  hour  of  their 
success.  And  yet  bodily  repose  also  at  such  a  time  is 
healing,  and  in  the  very  pause,  the  silence,  the  cess- 
ation of  the  rush,  pressure,  and  excitement  of  every 
conspicuous  career,  there  is  an  opportunity  and  even  a 
suggestion  of  calm  and  humble  recollection  of  the  soul. 
Accordingly  they  crossed  in  the  boat  to  some  quiet  spot, 
open  and  unreclaimed,  but  very  far  from  such  dreari- 
ness as  the  mention  of  a  desert  suggests  to  us.  But 
the  people  saw  Him,  and  watched  His  course,  while  out- 
running him  along  the  coast,  and  their  numbers  were 
augmented  from  every  town  as  they  poured  through  it, 
until  He  came  forth  and  saw  a  great  multitude,  and 
knew  that  His  quest  of  solitude  was  baffled.  Few 
things  are  more  trying  than  the  world's  remorseless 
intrusion  upon  one's  privacy,  and  subversions  of  plans 
which  one  has  laid,  not  for  himself  alone.  But  Jesus 
v>as  as  thoughtful  for  the  multitude  as  He  had  just 
shown  Himself  to  be  for  His  disciples.  Not  to  petu- 
lance but  to  compassion  did  their  urgency  excite  Him  ; 
for  as  they  stream.ed  across  the  wilderness,  far  from 
believing  upon    Him,    but  yet   conscious  of  sore  need, 


Mark  vi.  30-46.]     BREAD   IN   THE   DESERT.  I79 


unsatisfied  with  the  doctrine  of  their  professional 
teachers,  and  just  bereaved  of  the  Baptist,  they  seemed 
in  the  desert  hke  sheep  that  had  no  shepherd.  And 
He  patientl}'  taught  them  many  things. 

Nor  was  He  careful  only  for  their  souls.     We  have 
now   reached   that   remarkable  miracle  which   alone  is 
related  by  all  the  four  Evangelists.      And  the  narratives, 
while    each    has    its    individual    and     peculiar    points, 
corroborate  each  other  very  strikingly.     All  four  men- 
tion the  same  kind  of  basket,   quite  different  from  what 
appears  in  the  feeding  of  the  four  thousand.     St.  John 
alone  tells  us  that  it  v/as  the  season  of  the  Passover, 
the  middle  of   the  Galilean  spring-time  ;  but  yet   this 
agrees  exactly  with  St.  Mark's  allusion  to  the  "  green 
grass  "  which  summer  has  not  yet  dried  up.     All  four 
have  recorded  that  Jesus  "  blessed  "  or  "  gave  thanks," 
and  three  of  them  that  He  looked  up  to  heaven  while 
doing  so.     What  was  there  so  remarkable,  so  intense 
or    pathetic    in    His    expression,    that    it    should    have 
won  this  three-fold  celebration  ?     If  we  remember  the 
symbolical  meaning  of  what  He  did,   and  that  as  His 
hands  were  laid  upon  the  bread  which  He  would  break, 
so  His  own  body  should  soon  be  broken  for  the  relief 
of  the  hunger  of  the  world,    how   can  we  doubt  that 
absolute  self-devotion,  infinite  love,  and  pathetic  resig- 
nation were  in  that  wonderful  look,  which  never  could 
be  forgotten  ? 

There  could  have  been  but  few  women  and  children 
among  the  multitudes  who  "  outran  Jesus,"  and  these 
few  would  certainly  have  been  trodden  down  if  a  rush 
of  strong  and  hungry  men  for  bread  had  taken  place. 
Therefore  St.  John  mentions  that  while  Jesus  bade 
"the  people"  to  be  seated,  it  was  the  men  who  were 
actually  arranged  (vi.  lO  R.V.).     Groups  of  fifty  were 


i8o  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

easy  to  keep  in  order,  and  a  hundred  of  these  were  easily 
counted.  And  thus  it  conies  to  pass  that  we  know 
that  there  were  five  thousand  men,  while  the  women 
and  children  remained  unreckoned,  as  St.  Matthew 
asserts,  and  St.  Mark  implies.  This  is  a  kind  of 
harmony  which  we  do  not  find  in  two  versions  of  any 
legend.  Nor  could  any  legendary  impulse  have  ima- 
gined the  remarkable  injuction,  which  impressed  all 
four  Evangelists,  to  be  frugal  when  it  would  seem  that 
the  utmost  lavishness  was  pardonable.  Ihey  were 
not  indeed  bidden  to  gather  up  fragments  left  behind 
upon  the  ground,  for  thrift  is  not  meanness  ;  but  the 
"  broken  pieces  "  which  our  Lord  had  provided  over  and 
above  should  not  be  lest.  "  This  union  of  economy 
with  creative  power,"  said  Olshausen,  "  could  never 
have  been  invented,  and  yet  Nature,  that  mirror  of 
the  Divine  perfections,  exhibits  the  same  combination 
of  bound'.ess  munificence  with  truest  frugality."  And 
Godet  adds  the  excellent  remark,  that  "a  gift  so 
obtained  was  not  to  be  squandered." 

There  is  one  apparent  discord  to  set  against  these 
remarkable  harmonies,  and  it  will  at  least  serve  to 
show  that  they  are  not  calculated  and  artificial. 

St.  John  represents  Jesus  as  the  first  to  ask  Philip, 
Whence  are  we  to  buy  bread  ?  whereas  the  others 
represent  the  Twelve  as  urging  upon  Him  the  need  to 
dismiss  the  multitude,  at  so  late  an  hour,  from  a  place 
so  111  provided.  The  inconsistency  is  only  an  apparent 
one.  It  was  early  in  the  day,  and  upon  "seemg  a 
great  company  come  unto  Him,"  that  Jesus  questioned 
Philip,  who  might  have  remembered  an  Old  Testament 
precedent,  when  Elisha  said  "  Give  unto  the  people  that 
tliey  may  eat.  And  his  servitor  said.  What  ?  shall  1 
set  this  before  an  hundred  m.en  ?     He  said,  again  .  .  . 


Mark  vi.  30-46.]     BREAD   IN   THE  DESERT.  181 


they  shall  both  eat  and  shall  also  leave  thereof."  But 
the  faith  of  Philip  did  not  respond,  and  if  any  hope  of 
a  miracle  were  excited,  it  faded  as  time  passed  over. 
Hours  later,  when  the  day  was  far  spent,  the  Twelve, 
now  perhaps  excited  by  Philip's  misgiving,  and  repeat- 
ing his  calculation  about  the  two  hundred  pence,  urge 
Jesus  to  dismiss  the  multitude.  They  took  no  acdon 
until  "  the  time  was  already  past,"  but  Jesus  saw  the 
end  from  the  beginning.  And  surely  the  issue  taught 
them  not  to  distrust  their  Master's  power.  Now  the 
same  power  is  for  ever  with  the  Church  ;  and  our 
heavenly  Father  knoweth  that  we  have  need  of  food 
and  raiment. 

Even  in  the  working  of  a  miracle,  the  scantiest 
means  vouchsafed  by  Providence  are  not  despised. 
Jesus  takes  the  barley-loaves  and  the  fishes,  and  so 
teaches  all  men  that  true  faith  is  remote  indeed  from 
the  fanaticism  which  neglects  any  resources  brought 
within  the  reach  of  our  study  and  our  toil.  And  to 
show  how  really  these  materials  were  employed,  the 
broken  pieces  which  they  gathered  are  expressly  said 
to  have  been  composed  of  the  barley-loaves  and  of 
the  fish. 

Indeed  it  must  be  remarked  that  in  no  miracle  of  the 
Gospel  did  Jesus  actually  create.  He  makes  no  new 
members  of  the  body,  but  restores  old  useless  ones. 
"And  so,  without  a  substratum  to  work  upon  He 
creates  neither  bread  nor  wine."  To  do  this  would  not 
have  been  a  whit  more  difficult,  but  it  would  have  ex- 
pressed less  aptly  His  mission,  which  was  not  to  create 
a  new  system  of  thing,  shut  to  renew  the  old,  to  recover 
the  lost  sheep,  and  to  heal  the  sick  at  heart. 

Every  circunistance  of  this  miracle  is  precious. 
That  vigilant  care  for  the  weak  which  made  the  people 


l82  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

sit  down  in  groups,  and  await  their  turn  to  be  supplied, 
is  a  fine  example  of  the  practical  eye  for  details  which 
was  never,  before  or  since,  so  perfectl}''  united  with 
profound  thought,  insight  into  the  mind  of  God  and  the 
wants  of  the  human  race. 

The  words.  Give  ye  them  to  eat,  may  serve  as  an 
eternal  rebuke  to  the  helplessness  of  the  Church,  face 
to  face  with  a  starving  world,  and  regarding  her  own 
scanty  resources  with  dismay.  In  the  presence  of 
heathenism,  of  dissolute  cities,  and  of  semi-pagan  pea- 
santries, she  is  ever  looking  wistfully  to  some  costly 
far-off  supply.  And  her  Master  is  ever  bidding  her 
believe  that  the  few  loaves  and  fishes  in  her  hand,  if 
blessed  and  distributed  by  Him,  will  satisfy  the  famine 
of  mankind. 

For  in  truth  He  is  Himself  this  bread.  All  that 
the  Gospel  of  St.  John  explains,  underlies  the  narratives 
of  the  four.  And  shame  on  us,  with  Christ  given  to 
us  to  feed  and  strengthen  us,  if  we  think  our  resources 
scanty,  if  we  grudge  to  share  them  with  mankind,  if  we 
let  our  thoughts  wander  away  to  the  various  palliatives 
for  human  misery  and  salves  for  human  anguish,  which 
from  time  to  time  gain  the  credence  of  ^an  hour;  if  we 
send  the  hungry  to  the  country  and  villages  round 
about,  when  Christ  the  dispenser  of  the  Bread  of  souls, 
for  ever  present  in  His  Church,  is  saying,  They  need 
not  depart,  give  ye  them  to  eat. 

The  sceptical  explanations  of  this  narrative  are 
exquisitely  ludicrous.  One  tells  us  how,  finding  them- 
selves in  a  desert,  "thanks  to  their- extreme  frugality 
they  were  ab;e  to  exist,  and  this  was  naturally  "  (what, 
naturally  ?)  "  regarded  as  a  miracle."  This  is  called 
the  legendary  explanation,  and  every  one  can  judge 
for  himself  how  much  it  succeeds  in  explaining  to  him. 


Mark  vi.  30-46.]     BREAD   IN   THE   DESERT.  1S3 

Another  tells  us  that  Jesus  being  greater  than  Moses, 
it  was  felt  that  He  must  have  outstripped  him  in 
miraculous  power.  And  so  the  belief  grew  up  that  as 
Moses  fed  a  nation  during  forty  years,  with  angels' 
food,  He,  to  exceed  this,  must  have  bestowed  upon 
five  thousand  men  one  meal  of  barley  bread. 

This  is  called  the  mythical  explanation,  and  the 
credulity  which  accepts  it  must  not  despise  Christians, 
who  only  believe  their  Bibles. 

Jesus  had  called  away  His  followers  to  rest.  The 
multitude  which  beheld  this  miracle  was  full  of  pas- 
sionate hate  against  the  tyrant,  upon  whose  hands  the 
blood  of  the  Baptist  was  still  warm.  All  thev  waited 
was  a  leader.  And  nov/  they  would  fain  h.a  e  t  ken 
Jesus  by  force  to  thrust  this  perilous  honour  upon  Him. 
Therefore  He  sent  away  His  disciples  first,  that  am- 
bition and  hope  might  not  agitate  and  seculaiise  their 
minds  ;  and  when  He  had  dismissed  the  multitude  He 
Himself  ascended  the  neighbouring  mountain,  to  cool 
His  frame  v.ith  the  pure  breezes,  and  to  refresh  His 
Holy  Spirit  by  communion  with  His  Father.  Prayer 
was  natural  to  Jesus  ;  but  think  how  much  more  needful 
is  it  to  us.  And  yet  perhaps  we  have  never  taken  one 
hour  from  sleep  for  God. 


■'JESUS    WALKING   ON  THE    WATER:* 

Mark  vi.  47-52  (R.V.). 

(See  iv.  36,  pp.   133—140.) 


l84  COSFEL    OF  SF.   MARK. 


UNlVASHEiY  HANDS. 

"And  when  they  had  crossed  over,  they  came  to  the  land  unto  Gen- 
nesaret,  and  moored  to  the  shore.  .  .  .  Making  void  tlie  word  of  God 
by  your  tradition,  which  ye  have  dehvered  :  and  many  such  hi^e  things 
ye  do." — Mark  vi.  S3-vii.  13  (R.V.). 

There  is  a  condition  of  mind  which  readily  accepts  the 
temporal  blessings  of  religion,  and  yet  neglects,  and 
perhaps  despises,  the  spiritual  truths  which  they  ratify 
and  seal.  When  Jesus  landed  on  Gennesaret,  He  was 
straightway  known,  and  as  He  passed  through  the 
district,  thei-e  was  hasty  bearing  of  all  the  sick  to  meet 
Him,  laying  them  in  public  places,  and  beseeching  Him 
that  they  might  touch,  if  no  more,  the  border  of  His 
garment.  By  the  faith  which  believed  in  so  easy  a  cure, 
a  timid  woman  had  recently  won  signal  cominendation. 
But  the  very  fact  that  her  cure  had  become  public, 
while  it  accounts  for  the  action  of  these  crowds,  de- 
prives it  of  any  special  merit.  We  only  read  that 
as  many  as  touched  tlim  were  made  whole.  And  we 
know  that  just  now  He  was  forsaken  by  many  even  of 
His  disciples,  and  had  to  ask  His  very  apostles,  Will 
ye  also  go  away  ? 

Thus  we  find  these  two  conflicting  movements : 
among  the  sick  and  their  friends  a  profound  persuasion 
that  He  can  heal  them ;  and  among  those  whom  He 
would  fain  teach,  resentment  and  revolt  against  His 
doctrine.  The  co'mbination  is  strange,  but  we  dare  not 
call  it  unfamiliar.  We  see  the  opposing  tendencies 
even  in  the  same  man,  for  sorrow  and  pain  drive  to 
His  knees  many  a  one  who  will  not  take  upon  His  neck 
the  easy  yoke.  Yet  how  absurd  it  is  to  believe  in 
Clirist's  goodness  and  His  power,  and  still  to  dare  to 
sin  against  Him,  still  to  reject  the  inevitable  inference 


Markvi.  53  vii.  13]     UNWASHEN  HANDS.  185 

that  His  teaching  must  bring  bliss.  Men  ought  to  ask 
themselves  what  is  involved  when  they  pray  to  Christ 
and  yet  refuse  to  serve  Him. 

As  Jesus  moved  thus  around  the  district,  and 
responded  so  amply  to  their  supplication  that  His  very 
raiment  was  charged  with  health  as  if  with  electricity, 
which  leaps  out  at  a  touch,  what  an  effect  He  must 
have  produced,  even  upon  the  ceremonial  purity  of  the 
district.  Sickness  meant  defilement,  not  for  the  sufferer 
alone,  but  for  his  friends,  his  nurse,  and  the  bearers  of 
his  little  pallet.  B}^  the  recovery  of  one  sick  man,  a 
fountain  of  Levitical  pollution  was  dried  up.  And  the 
harsh  and  rigid  legalist  ought  to  have  perceived  that 
from  his  own  point  of  view  the  pilgrimage  of  Jesus  was 
like  the  breath  of  spring  upon  a  garden,  to  restore  its 
freshness  and  bloom. 

It  was  therefore  an  act  of  portentous  waywardness 
when,  at  this  juncture,  a  complaint  was  made  of  His 
indifference  to  ceremonial  cleanness.  For  of  course  a 
charge  against  His  disciples  was  really  a  complaint 
against  the  influence  which  guided  them  so  ill. 

It  was  not  a  disinterested  complaint.  Jerusalem 
was  alarmed  at  the  new  movement  resulting  from  the 
mission  of  the  Twelve,  their  miracles,  and  the  mighty 
works  which  He  Himself  had  lately  wrought.  And  a 
deputation  of  Pharisees  and  scribes  came  from  this 
centre  of  ecclesiastical  prejudice,  to  bring  Him  to 
account.  They  do  not  assail  His  doctrine,  nor  charge 
Him  with  violating  the  law  itself,  for  He  had  put  to 
shame  their  querulous  complaints  about  the  sabbath 
day.  But  tradition  was  altogether  upon  their  side  :  it 
was  a  weapon  ready  sharpened  for  their  use  against 
one  so  free,  unconventional  and  fearless. 

The  law  had  imposed  certain  restrictions  upon  th^.; 


i86  GOSFEL    OF  ST.  MARK. 

chosen  race,  restrictions  which  were  admirably  sanitary 
in  their  nature,  while  aiming  also  at  preserving  tlie 
isolation  of  Israel  from  the  corrupt  and  foul  natioiis 
which  lay  around.  All  such  restrictions  were  now 
about  to  pass  away,  because  religion  was  to  become 
aggressive,  it  was  henceforth  to  invade  the  nations 
from  whose  inroads  it  had  heretofore  sought  a  covert. 
But  the  Pharisees  had  not  been  content  even  with  the 
severe  restrictions  of  the  law.  They  had  not  regarded 
these  as  a  fence  for  themselves  against  spiritual  im- 
purity, but  as  an  elaborate  and  artificial  substitute  for 
love  and  trust.  And  therefore,  as  love  and  spiritual 
religion  iaded  out  of  their  hearts,  they  were  the  more 
jealous  and  sensitive  about  the  letter  of  the  Ifiw.  They 
"  fenced"  it  with  elaborate  rules,  and  precautions  against 
accidental  transgressions,  superstitiously  dreading  an 
involuntary  infraction  of  its  minutest  details.  Certain 
substances  were  unclean  food.  But  who  could  tell 
whether  some  atom  of  such  substance,  blown  about  in 
the  dust  of  summer,  might  adhere  to  the  hand  with 
which  he  ate,  or  to  the  cups  and  pots  whence  his  food 
was  drawn  ?  Moreover,  the  Gentile  nations  were  un- 
clean, and  it  was  not  possible  to  avoid  all  contact  with 
them  in  the  market-places,  returning  whence,  therefore, 
every  devout  Jew  was  careful  to  wash  himself,  which 
washing,  though  certainly  not  an  immersion,  is  here 
plainly  called  a  baptism.  Thus  an  elaborate  system 
of  ceremonial  washing,  not  for  cleansing,  but  as  a  reli- 
gious precaution,  had  grown  up  among  the  Jews. 

But  the  disciples  of  Jesus  had  begun  to  learn  their 
emancipation.  Deeper  and  more  spiritual  conceptions 
of  God  and  man  and  duty  had  grov/n  up  in  them.  And 
the  Pharisees  saw  that  they  ate  their  bread  v>-ith  un- 
V.  ashen  hands.     It  availed  notliing  tliat  half  a  [-' pulation 


Markvi.S3-vii.  13.]      UNWASHEN  HANDS.  1S7 

owed  purity  and  health  to  their  Divine  benevolence,  if  in 
the  process  the  letter  of  a  tradition  were  infrino-ed.  It 
was  necessary  to  expostulate  with  Jesus,  because  they 
walked  not  according  to  the  tradition  of  the  elders,  that 
dried  skin  of  an  old  orthodoxy  in  which  prescription 
and  routine  would  ever  fain  shut  up  the  seething 
enthusiasms   and   insights   of  the  present  time. 

With    such  attempts   to  restrict  and  cramp  the  free 
life  of  the   soul,  Jesus  could  have  no  sympathy.     He 
knew  well  that  an  exaggerated  trust  in  any  form,  any 
routine  or  ritual  whatever,  was  due  to  the  need  of  some 
stay  and  support  for  hearts  which  have  ceased  to  trust 
in  a  Father  of  souls.      But  He  chose   to  leave  them 
without  excuse  by  showing  their  transgression  of  actual 
precepts   which    real  reverence    for    God    would    have 
respected.      Like    books    of  etiquette    for  people  who 
have  not  the  instincts  of  gentlemen  ;  so  do  ceremonial 
religions  spring  up  where  the  instinct  of  respect  for  the 
\\\\\  of  God  is  dull  or  dead.     Accordingly  Jesus  quotes 
against  these  Pharisees  a  distinct  precept,  a  word  not 
of  their  fathers,  but  of  God,  which  their  tradition  had 
caused  them  to  trample  upon.  ■   If  any  genuine  reverence 
for   His   commandment  had    survived,   it    would   have 
been  outraged  by  such  a  collision  between  the  text  and 
the  gloss,    the  precept  and  the  precautionary  supple- 
ment.    But  they  had  never  felt  the  incongruity,  never 
been  jealous  enough  for  the  commandment  of  God  to 
revolt  against  the  encroaching  tradition  which  insulted 
it.     The  case  which  Jesus  gave,  only  as  one  of  "  many 
such    like    things,"    was   an    abuse    of  the    system    of 
vows,  and  of  dedicated  property.      It  would  seem  that 
from    the   custom    of   "devoting"    a    man's    property, 
and   thus  putting  it   beyond  his    further   control,   had 
grown    up    the    abuse    of    consecrating    it    with 'such 


i88  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

limitations,  that  it  should  still  be  available  for  the 
owner,  but  out  of  his  power  to  give  to  others.  And 
thus,  by  a  spell  as  abject  as  the  taboo  of  the  South  Sea 
islanders,  a  man  glorified  God  by  refusing  help  to  his 
father  and  mother,  without  being  at  all  the  poorer  for 
the  so-called  consecration  of  his  means.  And  even  if 
he  awoke  up  to  the  shameful  nature  of  his  deed,  it  was 
too  late,  for  "ye  no  longer  suffer  him  to  do  ought  for 
his  father  or  his  mother,"  And  yet  Moses  had  made 
it  a  capital  offence  to  "  speak  evil  of  father  or  mother." 
Did  they  then  allow  such  slanders?  Not  at  all,  and  so 
they  would  have  refused  to  confess  any  aptness  in  the 
quotation.  But  Jesus  was  not  thinking  of  the  letter  of 
a  precept,  but  of  the  spirit  and  tendency  of  a  religion, 
to  which  they  were  blind.  With  what  scorn  He  re- 
garded their  miserable  subterfuges,  is  seen  by  His 
vigorous  word,  "  full  well  do  ye  make  void  the  com- 
mandment of  God  that  ye  ma}^  keep  your  traditions." 

Now  the  root  of  all  this  evil  was  unreality.  It  was 
not  merely  because  their  heart  was  far  from  God  that 
they  invented  hollow  formalisms ;  indifference  leads  to 
neglect,  not  to  a  perverted  and  fastidious  earnestness. 
But  while  their  hearts  were  earthly,  they  had  learned 
to  honour  God  with  their  lips.  The  judgments  which 
had  sent  their  fathers  into  exile,  the  pride  of  their 
unique  position  among  the  nations,  and  the  self-interest 
of  privileged  classes,  all  forbade  them  to  neglect  the 
worship  in  which  they  had  no  joy,  and  which,  therefore, 
they  were  unable  to  follow  as  it  reached  out  into 
infinity,  panting  after  God,  a  living  God.  There  was 
no  principle  of  life,  growth,  aspiration,  in  their  dull 
obedience.  And  what  could  it  turn  into  but  a  routine, 
a  ritual,  a  verbal  homage,  and  the  honour  of  the  lips 
only  ?     And  how  could  such  a  worship  fail  to  shelter 


Markvi.  53-vii-  I3-]     UNWASHEN  HANDS.  1S9 


itself  in  evasions  from  the  heart-searching  earnestness 
of  a  law  which  was  spiritual,  while  the  worshipper  was 
carnal  and  sold  under  sin  ? 

It  was  inevitable  that  collisions  should  arise.  And 
the  same  results  will  always  follow  the  same  causes. 
Wherever  men  bow  the  knee  for  the  sake  of  respect- 
ability, or  because  they  dare  not  absent  themselves 
from  the  outward  haunts  of  piety,  yet  fail  to  love  God 
and  their  neighbour,  there  will  the  form  outrage  the 
spirit,  and  in  vain  will  they  worship,  teaching  as  their 
doctrines  the  traditions  of  men. 

Very  completely  indeed  was  the  relative  position  of 
Jesus  and  His  critics  reversed,  since  they  had  expressed 
pain  at  the  fruitless  effort  of  His  mother  to  speak  with 
Him,  and  He  had  seemed  to  set  the  meanest  disciple 
upon  a  level  vv^ith  her.  But  He  never  really  denied  the 
voice  of  nature,  and  they  never  really  heard  it.  An 
affectation  of  respect  would  have  satisfied  their  heart- 
less formality :  He  thought  it  the  highest  reward  of 
discipleship  to  share  the  warmth  of  His  love.  And 
therefore,  in  due  time,  it  was  seen  that  His  critics 
were  all  unconscious  of  the  wickedness  of  filial  neglect 
which  set  His  heart  on  fire. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

THINGS    WHICH  DEFIIE. 

"And  He  called  to  Him  the  multitude  again,  and  said  unto  them, 
Hear  Me  all  of  you,  and  understand  :  there  is  nothing  from  without 
the  man,  that  going  into  him  can  defile  him  :  but  the  things  which 
proceed  out  of  the  man  are  those  that  defile  the  man.  And  when  He 
was  entered  into  the  house  from  the  multitude.  His  disciples  asked  of 
Him  the  parable.  And  He  saith  unto  them,  Are  ye  so  without  under- 
standing also  ?  Perceive  ye  not,  that  whatsoever  from  without  goelh 
into  the  man,  //  cannot  defile  him  ;  because  it  goeth  not  into  his  heart, 
but  into  his  belly,  and  goeth  out  into  the  draught  ?  Iliis  He  said, 
making  all  meats  clean.  And  He  said,  That  which  proceedeth  out  of 
the  man,  that  defileth  the  man.  For  from  within,  out  of  the  heart  of 
men,  evil  thoughts  proceed,  fornications,  thefts,  murders,  adulteries, 
covetings,  wickednesses,  deceit,  lasciviousness,  an  evil  eye,  railing, 
pride,  foolishness  :  all  these  evil  things  proceed  from  within,  and  defile 
the  man."— Mark  vii.  14-23  (R.V.). 

WHEN  Jesus  had  exposed  the  hypocrisy  of  the 
Pharisees,  He  took  a  bold  and  significant  step, 
CalUng  the  multitude  to  Him,  He  publicly  announced 
that  no  diet  can  really  pollute  the  soul ;  only  its  own 
actions  and  desires  can  do  that  :  not  that  which  en- 
tereth  into  the  man  can  defile  him,  but  the  things 
which  proceed  out  of  the  man. 

He  docs  not  as  yet  proclaim  the  abolition  of  the  law, 
but  He  surely  declares  that  it  is  only  temporary, 
because  it  is  conventional,  not  rooted  in  the  eternal 
distinctions  between  right  and  wrong,  but  artificial. 
And  He  shows  that  its  time  is  short  indeed,  by  charg- 


Mark  vii.  14-23.]      TIIIAGS    IVIHCH  DEFILE.  191 

ing  the  multitude  to  understand  how  limited  is  its 
reach,  how  poor  are  its  effects. 

Such  teaching,  addressed  with  marked  emphasis  to 
the  public,  the  masses,  whom  the  Pharisees  despised 
as  ignorant  of  the  law,  and  cursed,  was  a  defiance 
indeed.  And  the  natural  consequence  was  an  opposi- 
tion so  fierce  that  lie  was  driven  to  betake  Himself, 
for  the  onl}^  time,  and  like  Elijah  in  his  extremity,  to  a 
Gentile  land.  And  3'et  there  was  abundant  evidence  in 
the  Old  Testament  itself  that  the  precepts  of  the  law 
were  not  the  life  of  souls.  David  ate  the  shewbread. 
The  priests  profaned  the  sabbath.  Isaiah  spiritualized 
fasting.  Zechariah  foretold  the  consecration  of  the 
Philistines.  Whenever  the  spiritual  energies  of  the 
ancient  saints  received  a  fresh  access,  they  were  seen 
to  strive  against  and  shake  off  some  of  the  trammels  of 
a  literal  and  servile  legalism.  The  doctrine  of  Jesus 
explained  and  justified  what  already  was  felt  by  the 
foremost  spirits  in  Israel. 

When  they  were  alone,  "  the  disciples  asked  of  Him 
the  parable,"  that  is,  in  other  words,  the  saying  wliich 
they  felt  to  be  deeper  than  they  understood,  and  full 
of  far-reaching  issues.  But  Jesus  rebuked  them  for 
not  understanding  what  uncleanness  really  meant. 
For  Him,  defilement  was  badness,  a  condition  of  the 
soul.  And  therefore  meats  could  not  defile  a  man, 
because  they  did  not  reach  the  heart,  but  only  the 
bodily  organs.  In  so  doing,  as  St.  Mark  plainly  adds, 
He  made  all  meats  clean,  and  thus  pronounced  the 
doom  of  Judaism,  and  the  new  dispensation  of  the 
Spirit.  In  truth,  St.  Paul  did  little  more  than  expand 
this  memorable  saying.  ''Nothing  that  goeth  into  a 
man  can  defile  him,"  here  is  the  germ  of  all  the  decision 
about  idol  meats — "  neither  if  'one'  eat  is  he  the  better. 


192  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

neither  if  he  eat  not  is  he  the  worse."  "  The  things 
which  proceed  out  of  the  man  are  those  which  defile 
the  man/'  here  is  the  germ  of  all  the  demonstration 
that  love  fulfils  the  law,  and  that  our  true  need  is  to 
be  renewed  inwardly,  so  that  we  may  bring  forth  fruit 
unto  God. 

But  the  true  pollution  of  the  man  comes  from  within; 
and  the  life  is  stained  because  the  heart  is  impure.  For 
from  within,  out  of  the  heart  of  men,  evil  thoughts  pro- 
ceed, like  the  uncharitable  and  bitter  judgments  of  His 
accusers — and  thence  come  also  the  sensual  indulgences 
which  men  ascribe  to  the  flesh,  but  which  depraved 
imaginations  excite,  and  love  of  God  and  their  neigh- 
bour would  restrain — and  thence  are  the  sins  of 
violence  which  men  excuse  by  pleading  sudden  pro- 
vocation, whereas  the  spark  led  to  a  conflagration  only 
because  the  heart  was  a  dry  fuel — and  thence,  plainly 
enough,  come  deceit  and  railing,  pride  and  folly. 

It  is  a  hard  saying,  but  our  conscience  acknowledges 
the  truth  of  it.  We  are  not  the  toy  of  circumstances, 
but  such  as  we  have  made  ourselves  ;  and  our  lives 
would  have  been  pure  if  the  stream  had  flowed  from 
a  pure  fountain.  However  modern  sentiment  may  re- 
joice in  highly  coloured  pictures  of  the  noble  profligate 
and  his  pure  minded  and  elegant  victim;  of  the  brigand 
or  the  border  ruffian  full  of  kindness,  with  a  heart  as 
gentle  as  his  hands  are  red  ;  and  however  true  we 
may  feel  it  to  be  that  the  worst  heart  may  never  have 
betrayed  itself  by  the  worst  actions,  but  many  that  are 
first  shall  be  last,  it  still  continues  to  be  the  fact,  and 
undeniable  Vihen  we  do  not  sophisticate  our  judgment, 
that  "  all  these  evil  things  proceed  from  within." 

It  is  also  true  that  they  "further  defile  the  man."  The 
corruption  which  already  existed  in  the  heart  is  made 


Mark  vii.  14-23-]      THINGS    WHICFI  DEFILE.  193 

worse  by  passing  into  action  ;  shame  and  fear  are 
weakened ;  the  will  is  confirmed  in  evil  ;  a  gap  is 
opened  or  widened  between  the  man  who  commits  a 
new  sin,  and  the  virtue  on  which  he  has  turned  his 
back.  Few,  alas  !  are  ignorant  of  the  defiling  power  of 
a  bad  action,  or  even  of  a  sinful  thought  deliberately 
harboured,  and  the  harbouring  of  which  is  really  an 
action,  a  decision  of  the  will. 

This  word  which  makes  all  meats  clean,  ought  for 
ever  to  decide  the  question  whether  certain  drinks  are 
in  the  abstract  unlawful  for  a  Christian. 

We  must  remember  that  it  leaves  untouched  the 
question,  what  restrictions  may  be  necessary  for  men 
who  have  depraved  and  debased  their  own  appetites, 
until  innocent  indulgence  does  reach  the  heart  and 
perverii  it.  Hand  and  foot  are  innocent,  but  men  there 
are  who  cannot  enter  into  life  otherwise  than  halt  or 
maimed.  Also  it  leaves  untouched  the  question,  as  long 
as  such  men  exist,  how  far  may  I  be  privileged  to 
share  and  so  to  lighten  the  burden  imposed  on  them 
by  past  transgressions  ?  It  is  surely  a  noble  sign  of 
religious  life  in  our  day,  that  many  thousands  can  sa}'', 
as  the  Apostle  said,  of  innocent  joys,  "  Have  we  not  a 
right?  .  .  .  Nevertheless  we  did  not  use  this  right,  but 
we  bear  all  things,  that  we  may  cause  no  hindrance 
to  the  gospel  of  Christ." 

Nevertheless  the  rule  is  absolute  :  "  Whatsoever  from 
without  goeth  into  the  man,  it  cannot  defile  him." 
And  the  Church  of  Christ  is  bound  to  maintain,  un- 
compromised  and  absolute,  the  liberty  of  Christian 
souls. 

Let  us  not  fail  to  contrast  such  teaching  as  this 
of  Jesus  with  that  of  our  modern  materialism. 

"  The  value  of  meat  and  drink  is  perfectly  trans- 

13 


194  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARfC. 

cendental,"  sa3's  one.  "  Man  is  what  he  eats,"  says 
another.  But  it  is  enough  to  make  us  t.ei.iljle,  to  ask 
what  will  issue  from  such  teaching  f  i':  ever  grasps 
firmly  the  mind  of  a  single  generation.  V/hat  will 
become  of  honest}',  when  the  value  of  what  may  be 
had  by  theft  is  transcendental  ?  How  shall  armies  be 
persuaded  to  suffer  hardness,  and  populations  to  famish 
within  beleaguered  walls,  when  they  learn  that  "  man  is 
what  he  eats,"  so  that  his  very  essence  is  visibly  en- 
feebled, his  personality  starved  out,  as  he  grows  pale 
and  wasted  underneath  his  country's  flag?  In  vain 
shall  such  a  generation  strive  to  keep  alive  the  flam.e 
of  generous  self-devotion.  Self-devotion  seemed  to 
their  fathers  to  be  the  noblest  attainment ;  to  them 
it  can  be  only  a  worn-out  form  of  speech  to  say  that 
the  soul  can  overcome  the  flesh.  For  to  them  the  man 
is  the  flesh  ;  he  is  the  resultant  of  his  nourishment ; 
wdnat  enters  into  the  mouth  makes  his  character,  for 
it  makes  him  all. 

There  is  that  within  us  all  which  knows  better ; 
which  sets  against  the  aphorism,  "  Man  is  what  he 
eats;"  the  text'"  As  a  man  thinketh  in  his  heart  so  is 
he  ; "  which  will  always  spurn  the  doctrine  of  the  brute, 
when  it  is  boldly  confronted  with  the  doctrine  of  the 
Crucified. 


Ma.kvii.  21-30.]     THE    CHILDREN  AND    THE   DOGS.       IQS 

THE   CHILDREN  AND    THE  DOGS. 

»Ana  from  thence  He  arose,   and  went  away  into   the  borders  of 

Tvrc      Kl  SKlon.     And  He  entered  rnto  a  hou.e,  and  w.uld  have  no 

lAn  know  it:  and  He  could  not  be  hid.     But  strar.btway  a  woman, 

",    se    Utle  daughter  had  an  unclean   spirit,    having  heard  ol    Hn. 

:  ::an.l  reU  d^wn  at  His  feet.  Now  f-  -o-'YT^.  L";;,:!  cast 
Syropho^nician  by  race.  And  she  besought  Hnn  that  He  ^^ould  cast 
fonh  he  devil  out  of  her  daughter.  And  He  said  unto  her.  Let  th 
d  idr  n  first  be  filled  :  for  it  is  r.ot  meet  to  take  the  chddren  s  bread 
an  cast  it  to  the  dogs.  But  she  answered  and  saith  unto  Hrm,  ^  ea, 
Lo  d  even  the  dogs  under  the  table  eat  of  the  chddren  s  crumbs. 
And  He  slid  unto  her,  For  this  saying  go  thy  way  ;  the  devd  rs  gone 
o^t  of^thy  daunhier.  And  she  went  away  unto  her  house,  and  found 
Z  chiU  laid  rrpou  the  bed,  and  the  devU  gone  out.--M..KK  vu.  .4-30 
(R.V.). 

The  ingratitude  and  perverseness  of  His  counti-ymen 
have  now  driven  Jesus  into  retirement  "  on  the  borders 
of  heathenism.     U  it  is  not  clear  that  He  has  yet  crossed 
the  frontier,  and  some  presumption  to   the  contrary  is 
found  in  the  statement  that  a  woman,  drawn  by  a  tame 
which  had  long  since  gone  throughout  all  Syria,  "came 
out  of  those  borders  "  to  reach  Him.     She  was  not  only 
-a  Greek"  (by  language  or  by  creed  as  conjecture  may 
decide,   though   very  probably   the   word    means    little 
n.ore  than  a  Gentile),  but  even  of  the  especially  accursed 
race  of  Canaan,  the  reprobate  of  reprobates.     And  yet 
the  prophet  Zechariah  had  foreseen  a  time  vvhen  the 
Philistine  also  should  be  a  remnant  tor  our  God   and 
as  a  chieftain  in  Judah,  and  when  the  most   stubborn 
rnce  of  all  the  Canaanites  should  be  absorbed  in  Israel 
as  tliorou^hly  as  that  which  gave  Araunah  to  the  kind- 
he.t  intercourse  with  David,  for  Ekron  should  be  as  a 
Vbu-i^-  (is;    7)      But  the  hour  for  breaking  down  the 
IplrUnJ  wall  of  partition  was  not  yet  fully  come.     Nor 
did  any  friend  plead  for  this  unhappy  woman,  that  she 


ig6  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


loved  the  nation  and  had  built  a  synagogue ;  nothing 
as  yet  lifted  her  above  the  dead  level  of  that  paganism 
to  v^hich  Christ,  in  the  days  of  His  flesh  and  upon 
earth,  had  no  commission.  Even  the  great  champion 
and  apostle  of 'die  Gentiles  confessed  that  his  Lord  was 
a  minister  of  the  circumcision  by  the  grace  of  God,  and 
it  was  by  His  ministry  to  the  Jews  that  the  Gentiles 
were  ultimately  to  be  won.  We  need  not  be  surprised 
therefore  at  His  silence  when  she  pleaded,  for  this 
might  well  be  calcnlated  to  elicit  some  expression  of 
faith,  something  to  separate  her  from  her  fellows,  and 
so  enable  Him  to  bless  her  without  breaking  down 
prematurely  all  distinctions.  Also  it  m.ust  be  con- 
sidered that  nothing  could  more  offend  His  country- 
men than  to  grant  her  prayer,  while  as  yet  it  was 
impossible  to  hope  for  any  compensating  harvest  among 
her  fellows,  such  as  had  been  reaped  in  Samaria. 
What  is  surprising  is  the  apparent  harshness  of  expres- 
sion which  follows  that  silence,  when  even  His  disciples 
are  induced  to  intercede  for  her.  But  theirs  was  only 
the  softness  which  yields  to  clamour,  as  many  people  give 
alms,  not  to  silent  worth  but  to  loud  and  pertinacious 
importunity.  And  they  even  presumed  to  thow  their 
own  discomfort  into  the  scale,  and  urge  as  a  reason  for 
this  intercession,  that  she  crieth  after  tis.  But  Jesus 
was  occupied  with  His  mission,  and  unwilUng  to  go 
farther  than   He  was  sent. 

In  her  agony  she  pressed  nearer  still  to  Him  when 
He  refused,  and  worshipped  Him,  no  longer  as  the  Son 
of  David,  since  Avhat  was  Hebrew  in  His  commission 
made  against  her ;  but  simply  appealed  to  His  com- 
passion, calling  Him  Lord.  The  absence  of  these 
details  from  St.  Mark's  narrative  is  interesting,  and 
shows  the  mistake  of  thinking  that  his  Gospel  is  simply 


Markvii.  24-30.]     THE    CHILDREN  AND    THE  DOGS.        197 

the  most  graphic  and  the  fullest.      It  is  such  when  our 
Lord    Himself  is  in  action  ;  its  information  is  derived 
from  one  who  pondered  and  told  all  things,  not  as  they 
were  pictorial  in  themselves,  but  as  they  illustrated  the 
one  great   figure  of   the   Son   of   man.      And    so    the 
ansvrer  of  Jesus   is  fully  given,  although   it  does   not 
appear  as  if  grace  were  poured  into  His  lips.      "  Let 
the  children  first  be  filled,   for  it  is  not  m-cet  to  take 
the  children's  bread,   and  to  cast  it  to  the  dogs."     It 
might    seem    that    sterner   words   could   scarcely  have 
been  spoken,  and  that  His  kindness  was  only  for  the 
Jews,  who  even  in  their  ingratitude  were  to  the  best 
of  the  Gentiles  as  children  compared  with  dogs.     Yet 
she  does  not  contradict  Him.     Neither  does  she  argue 
back, — for   the   words   "  Truth,   Lord,    but  .  .  ."   have 
rightly  disappeared  from  the  Revised  Version,  and  with 
tliem  a  certain  ccntenlious  aspect  which  they  give  to  her 
reply.      On  the  contrary  she  assents,  she  accepts  all  the 
seeming  severity  of  His  view,  because  her  penetrating 
faith  has  detected  its  kindly  undertone,  and  the  triple 
opportunity  which  it  offers  to  a  quick    and  confiding 
intelligence.      It  is  indeed  touching  to  reflect  how  im- 
pregnable w-as  Jesus  in  controversy  with  the  keenest 
intellects  of  JudaiEm,  with  how  sharp  a  weapon  He  rent 
their   snares,   and    retorted    their    arguments    to    their 
confusion,  and  then  to  observe  Him  inviting,  tempting, 
preparing  the  way  for  an  argument  vrhich  would  lead 
Him,  gladly  won,  captive  to  a  heathen's  and  a  woman's 
importunate    and    trustful    sagacity.       It    is   the    same 
Divine   condescension   v/hich   gave  to   Jacob    his    new 
name  of  Israel  because  he  had  striven  with  God  and 
prevailed. 

And  let  us  reverently  ponder  the  fact  that  this  pagan 
mother  of  a  demoniacal  child,  this  woman  whose  name 


198  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

has  perished,  is  the  only  person  who  won  a  dialectical 
victory  in  striving  with  the  Wisdom  of  God  ;  such  a 
victory  as  a  father  allows  to  his  eager  child,  when  he 
raises  gentle  obstacles,  and  even  assumes  a  transparent 
mask  of  harshness,  but  never  passes  the  limit  of  the 
trust  and  love  which  he  is  probing. 

The  first  and  most  obvious  opportunity  which  He 
gives  to  her  is  nevertlieless  hard  to  show  in  English. 
He  might  have  used  an  epithet  suitable  for  those  fierce 
creatures  which  prowl  through  Eastern  streets  at  night 
without  any  master,  living  upon  refuse,  a  peril  even  to 
men  who  are  unarmed.  But  Jesus  used  a  diminutive 
word,  not  found  elsewhere  in  the  New  Testament,  and 
quite  unsuitable  to  those  fierce  beasts,  a  word  "in 
which  the  idea  of  uncleanness  gives  place  to  that  of 
dependence,  of  belonging  to  man  and  to  the  family." 
No  one  applies  our  colloquial  epithet  "  doggie "  to  a 
fierce  or  rabid  brute.  Thus  Jesus  really  domesticated 
the  Gentile  world.'  And  nobly,  eagerly,  yet  very 
modestly  she  used  this  tacit  concession,  when  she 
repeated  His  carefully  selected  word,  and  inferred  from 
it  that  her  place  was  not  among  those  vile  "  dogs " 
which  are  "  without,"  but  with  the  domestic  dogs,  the 
little  dogs  underneath  the  table. 

Again,  she  observed  the  promise  which  lurked  under 
seeming  refusal,  when  He  said,  "  Let  the  children  first 
be  filled,"  and  so  implied  that  her  turn  should  come, 
that  it  was  only  a  question  of  time.  And  so  she 
answers  that  such  dogs  as  He  would  make  of  her  and 
hers  do  not  fast  utterly  until  their  mealtime  after  the 
children  have  been  satisfied  ;  they  wait  under  the  table, 
and  some  ungrudged  fragments  reach  them  there,  some 
''  crumbs." 

Moreover,  and  perhaps  chiefly,  the  bread  she  craves 


Mark  vii.  24-30.]      THE    CHILDREN  AND    THE  DOGS.        199 

need  not  be  torn  from  hungry  children.  Their  Bene- 
factor has  had  to  wander  off  into  concealment,  they  have 
let  fall,  unheeding,  not  only  crumbs,  although  her  noble 
tact  expresses  it  thus  lightly  to  their  countryman,  but 
far  more  than  she  divined,  even  the  very  Bread  of  Life. 
Surely  His  own  illustration  has  admitted  her  right  to 
profit  by  the  heedlessness  of  "  the  children."  And  He 
had  admitted  all  this  :  He  had  meant  to  be  thus  overcome. 
One  loves  to  think  of  the  first  flush  of  hope  in  that 
trembling  mother's  heavy  heart,  as  she  discerned  His 
intention  and  said  within  herself,  "  Oh,  surely  I  am  not 
mistaken  ;  He  does  not  really  refuse  at  all ;  He  wills 
that  I  should  answer  Him  and  prevail."  One  supposes 
that  she  looked  up,  half  afraid  to  utter  the  great 
rejoinder,  and  took  courage  when  she  met  His  question- 
ing inviting  gaze. 

And  then  comes  the  glad  response,  no  longer  spoken 
coldly  and  without  an  epithet  :  "  O  woman,  great  is  thy 
faith."  He  praises  not  her  adroitness  nor  her  humility, 
but  the  faith  which  would  not  doubt,  in  that  dark  hour, 
that  light  was  behind  the  cloud  ;  and  so  He  sets  no 
other  limit  to  His  reward  than  the  limit  of  her  desires  : 
"  Be  it  unto  thee  even  as  thou  wilt." 

Let  us  learn  that  no  case  is  too  desperate  for  prayer, 
and  perseverance  will  surely  find  at  last  that  our  Lord 
delighteth  to  be  gracious.  Let  us  be  certain  that  the 
brightest  and  most  confiding  view  of  all  His  dealings  is 
the  truest,  and  man,  if  only  he  trusts  aright,  shall  live 
by  every  word  that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God. 

Thus  did  Jesus  declare,  in  action  as  in  word,  the 
fading  out  of  all  distinction  betvv-een  the  ceremoniall}'' 
clean  and  unclean.  He  crossed  the  limits  of  the  Holy 
Land  :  He  found  great  faith  in  a  daughter  of  the 
accursed    race  ;    and    He  ratified  and   acted  upon    her 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


claim  that  the  bread  which  fell  neglected  from  the  table 
of  the  Jew  was  not  forbidden  to  the  hunger  of  the 
Gentile.  The  history  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  is 
already  here  in  spirit. 


THE   DEAF  AND   DUMB   MAN. 

"  And  again  He  went  out  from  the  borders  of  Tyre,  and  came  through 
Sidon  unto  the  sea  of  Gahlee,  through  the  midst  of  the  borders  of 
Decapolis.  And  they  bring  unto  Him  one  that  was  deaf,  and  had  an 
impediment  in  his  speech;  and  they  beseech  Him  to  lay  His  hand  upon 
him.  And  He  took  him  aside  from  tlae  muhitude  privately,  and  put 
His  fingers  into  his  ears,  and  He  spat,  and  touched  His  tongue  ;  and 
looking  up  to  heaven,  He  sighed,  and  saith  unto  him,  Ephphatha,  that 
is,  Be  opened.  And  his  ears  were  opened,  and  the  bond  of  his  tongue 
was  loosed,  and  he  spake  plain.  And  He  charged  them  that  they 
should  tell  no  man  :  but  the  more  He  charged  them,  so  much  the  more 
a  great  deal  they  published  it.  And  they  were  beyond  measure  as- 
tonished, saying,  He  hath  done  all  things  well  :  He  maketh  even  the 
deaf  to  hear,  and  the  dumb  to  speak." — Mark  vii.  31-37  (R.V.). 

There  are  curious  and  significant  varieties  in  the  methods 
by  which  our  Saviour  healed.  We  have  seen  Him, 
when  watched  on  the  sabbath  by  eager  and  expectant 
foes,  baflling  all  their  malice  by  a  miracle  without  a 
deed,  by  refusing  to  cross  the  line  of  the  most  rigid 
and  ceremonial  orthodoxy,  by  only  coinmanding  an 
innocent  gesture,  Stretch  forth  thine  hand.  In  sharp 
contrast  with  such  a  miracle  is  the  one  which  we  have 
now  reached.  There  is  brought  to  Him  a  man  who  is 
deaf,  and  whose  speech  therefore  could  not  have  been 
more  than  a  babble,  since  it  is  by  hearing  that  we  learn 
to  articulate ;  but  of  whom  we  are  plainly  told  that  he 
suffered  from  organic  inability  to  utter  as  well  as  to 
hear,  for  he  had  an  impediment  in  his  speech,  the  string 
of  his  tongue  needed  to  be"  loosed,  and  Jesus  touched 
his  tongue  as  well  as  his  ears,  to  heal  him. 


Markvii.  3I-37-]     THE   DEAF  AND  DUMB   MAN.  201 

It.  should  be  observed  that  no  unbeheving  tlieory 
can  explain  the  change  in  our  Lord's  method.  Some 
pi-etend  that  all  the  stories  of  His  miracles  grew  up 
afterward,  from  the  sense  of  awe  with  which  He  was 
regarded.  How  does  that  agree  with  effort,  sighing, 
and  even  gradation  in  the  stages  of  recovery,  following 
after  the  most  easy,  astonishing  and  instantaneous 
cures  ?  Others  believe  that  the  enthusiasm  of  His 
teaching  and  the  charm  of  His  presence  conveyed  heal- 
ing efficacy  to  the  impressible  and  the  nervous.  How 
does  this  account  for  the  fact  that  His  earliest  miracles 
were  the  prompt  and  effortless  ones,  and  as  time  passes 
on,  He  secludes  the  patient  and  uses  agencies,  as  if 
the  resistance  to  His  power  v/ere  more  appreciable  ? 
Enthusiasm  would  gather  force  with  every  new  success. 

All  becomes  clear  when  we  accept  the  Christian 
doctrine.  Jesus  came  in  the  fulness  of  the  love  of  God, 
with  both  hands  filled  with  gifts.  On  His  part  there 
is  no  hesitation  and  no  limit.  But  on  the  part  of 
man  there  is  doubt,  misconception,  and  at  last  open 
hostility,  A  real  chasm  is  opened  between  man  and 
the  grace  He  gives,  so  that,  although  not  straitened  in 
Him,  they  are  straitened  in  their  own  affections.  Even 
while  they  believe  in  Him  as  a  healer,  they  no  longer 
accept  Him  as  their  Lord. 

And  Jesus  makes  it  plain  to  them  that  the  gift  is  no 
longer  so  easy,  spontaneous  and  of  public  right  as 
formerly.  In  His  own  country  He  could  not  do  many 
mighty  works.  And  nov/,  returning  by  indirect  routes, 
and  privately,  from  the  heathen  shores  whitlier  Jewish 
enmity  had  driven  Him,  He  will  make  the  multitude 
feel  a  kind  of  exclusion,  taking  the  patient  from  among 
them,  as  He  does  again  presently  in  Eethsaida  (chap.  viii. 
23).     There   is  also,  in  the  deliberate  act  of  seclusion 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


and  in  the  means  employed,  a  stimulus  for  the  faith  of 
the  sufferer,  which  would  scarcely  have  been  needed 
a  little  while  before. 

The  people  were  unconscious  of  any  reason  why  this 
cure  should  differ  from  former  ones.  And  so  they 
besought  Jesus  to  lay  His  hand  on  him,  the  usual  and 
natural  expression  for  a  conveyance  of  invisible  power. 
But  even  if  no  other  objection  had  existed,  this  action 
would  have  meant  little  to  the  deaf  and  dumb  man, 
living  in  a  silent  world,  and  needing  to  have  his  faith 
aroused  by  some  yet  plainer  sign.  Jesus  therefore 
removes  him  from  the  crowd  whose  curiosity  would 
distract  his  attention — even  as  by  affliction  and  pain  He 
still  isolates  each  of  us  at  times  from  the  world,  shutting 
us  up  with  God. 

He  speaks  the  only  language  intelligible  to  such  a 
man,  the  language  of  signs,  putting  His  hngers  into  his 
ears  as  if  to  break  a  seal,  conveying  the  moisture  of 
His  own  lip  to  the  silent  tongue,  as  if  to  impart  its 
facult}',  and  then,  at  what  should  have  bten  the  exultant 
moment  of  conscious  and  triumphant  power,  He  sighed 
deeply. 

What  an  unexpected  revelation  of  the  man  rather 
than  the  wonder  worker.  How  unlike  anything  that 
theological  myth  or  heroic  legend  would  have  invented. 
Perhaps,  as  Keble  sings,  He  thought  of  those  moral 
defects  for  which,  in  a  responsible  universe,  no  miracle 
may  be  wrought,  of  "  the  deaf  heart,  the  dumb  by 
choice."  Perhaps,  according  to  Stier's  ingenious  guess, 
He  sighed  because,  in  our  sinful  world,  the  gift  of 
hearing  is  so  doubtful  a  blessing,  and  the  faculty  of 
speech  so  apt  to  be  perverted.  One  can  almost  imagine 
that  no  human  endowment  is  ever  given  by  Him  Who 
knows  all,  without  a  touch  of  sadness.      But  it  is  more 


Markvil.  3I-37-]     THE   DEAF  AND   DUMB   MAN.  203 


natural  to  suppose  that  He  Who  is  touched  with  the 
feehng  of  our  infirmities,  and  Who  bare  our  siclmess, 
thought  upon  the  countless  miseries  of  which  this  was 
but  a  specimen,  and  sighed  for  the  perverseness  by 
which  the  fulness  of  His  compassion  was  beingrestrained. 
We  are  reminded  by  that  sigh,  however  v.-e  explain  it, 
that  the  only  triumphs  which  made  Him  rejoice  in 
Spirit  were  very  different  from  displays  of  His  physical 
ascendancy. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  St.  Mark,  informed 
by  the  most  ardent  and  impressible  of  the  apostles,  by 
him  who  reverted,  long  afterwards,  to  the  voice  which 
he   heard  in   the  holy  mount,   has  recorded  several  of 
the  Aramaic  words  v/hich  Jesus  uttered  at  memorable 
junctures.     "  Ephphalha,  Be  opened,"  He  said,  and  the 
bond  of  his  tongue  was  loosed,  and  his  speech,  hitherto 
incoherent,  became  plain.      But  the  Gospel  which  tells 
us  the  first  word  he  heard  is  silent  about  v/hat  he  said. 
Only  we  read,  and  this  is  suggestive  enough,  that  the 
command  was  at  once  given  to  him,  as  well  as  to  the 
bystanders,    to  keep  silent.     Not   copious   speech,  but 
wise  restraint,  is  what  the  tongue  needs  most  to  learn. 
To  him,  as  to  so  many  whom  Christ  had  healed,  the 
injunction  came,  not  to  preach  without  a  commission, 
not   to  suppose   that   great  blessings  require  loud  an- 
nouncement, or  unfit  men  for  lowly  and  quiet  places. 
Legend    would     surely    have     endowed    with    special 
eloquence  the  lips  which  Jesus  unsealed.      He  charged 
them  that  they  should  tell  no  man. 

It  was  a  double  miracle,  and  the  latent  unbelief  be- 
came clear  of  the  very  men  who  had  hoped  for  some 
measure  of  blessing.  For  they  were  beyond  measure 
astonished,  saying  He  doeth  all  things  well,  celebrating 
the  power  which  restored  the  hearing  and  the  speech 


204  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

together.  Do  we  blame  their  previous  incredulity  ? 
Perhaps  we  also  expect  some  blessing  from  our  Lord, 
yet  fail  to  bring  Him  all  we  have  and  all  we  are  for 
blessing.  Perhaps  we  should  be  astonished  beyond 
measure  if  we  received  at  the  hands  of  Jesus  a  sanc- 
tification  that  extended  to  all  our  powers. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  FOUR    7  hO  US  AND. 

*'  In  those  days,  when  there  was  again  a  great  multitude,  and  they 
had  nothing  to  eat,  He  called  unto  Him  His  disciples,  and  saith  unto 
them,  I  have  compassion  on  the  multitude,  because  they  continue  with 
Me  now  three  days,  an^  have  nothing  to  eat :  and  if  I  send  them  away 
fasting  to  their  home,  they  will  faint  in  the  way  ;  and  some  of  them  are 
come  from  far.  And  His  disciples  answered  Him,  Whence  shall  one 
be  able  to  fill  these  men  with  bread  here  in  a  desert  place  ?  And  He 
asked  them,  Flow  many  loaves  have  ye?  And  they  said,  Seven.  And 
He  commandeth  the  multitude  to  sit  down  on  the  ground  :  and  He  took 
the  seven  loaves,  and  having  given  thanks,  He  brake,  and  gave  to  His 
disciples,  to  set  before  them  ;  and  they  set  them  before  the  multitude. 
And  they  had  a  few  small  fishes  :  and  having  blessed  them,  He  com- 
manded to  set  these  also  before  them.  And  they  did  eat,  and  were 
filled  :  and  they  took  up,  of  broken  pieces  that  remained  over,  seven 
baskets.  And  they  were  about  four  thousand  :  and  He  sent  them  away. 
And  straightway  He  entered  into  the  boat  with  His  disciples,  and 
came  into  the  parts  of  Dalmanutha." — RIaric  viii.  i-io  (R.V.). 

E  now  come  upon  a  miracle  strangely  similar  to 
that  of  the  Feeding  of  the  Five  Thousand.  And 
it  is  worth  while  to  ask  what  would  have  been  the 
result,  if  the  Gospels  which  contain  this  narrative  had 
omitted  the  former  one.  Scepticism  would  have  scruti- 
nized every  difference  between  the  two,  regarding  them 
as  variations  of  the  same  story,  to  discover  traces  of 
the  growth  of  the  myth  or  legend,  and  entirely  to  dis- 
credit it.  Now  however  it  is  plain  that  the  events  are 
quite  distinct ;  and  we  cannot  doubt  but  that  informa- 
tion  as    full  would  clear  away  as  completely  many  a 


2c6  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

perplexit}'-  which  still  entangles  us.  Archbishop  Trench 
hr.s  well  shown  that  the  later  narrative  cannot  have 
grown  out  of  the  earlier,  because  it  has  not  grown  at 
all,  but  fallen  away.  A  new  legend  always  "outstrips 
the  old,  but  here  .  .  .  the  numbers  fed  are  smaller, 
the  supply  of  food  is  greater,  and  the  fragments  that 
remain  are  fewer."  The  latter  point  is  however  doubt- 
ful. It  is  likely  that  the  baskets,  though  fewer,  were 
larger,  for  in  such  a  one  St.  Paul  was  lowered  down 
over  the  wall  of  Damascus  (Acts  ix.  25).  In  all  the 
Gospels  the  Greek  word  for  baskets  in  the  former 
miracle  is  different  from  the  latter.  And  hence  arises 
an  interesting  coincidence  ;  for  when  the  disci^iles  had 
gene  into  a  desert  place,  and  there  gathered  the  frag- 
ments into  wallets,  each  of  them  naturally  carried  one 
of  these,  and  accordingly  twelve  were  filled.  But  here 
they  had  recourse  apparently  to  the  large  baskets  of 
persons  who  sold  bread,  and  the  number  seven  remains 
unaccounted  for.  Scepticism  indeed  persuades  itself 
that  the  whole  story  is  to  be  spiritualized,  the  twelve 
baskets  answering  to  the  twelve  apostles  who  distributed 
the  Bread  of  Life,  and  the  seven  to  the  seven  deacons. 
How  came  it  then  that  the  sorts  of  baskets  are  so  well 
discriminated,  that  the  inferior  ministers  are  represented 
by  the  larger  ones,  and  that  the  bread  is  not  dealt  out 
from  these  baskets  but  gathered  into  them  ? 

The  second  repetition  of  such  a  work  is  a  fine  proof 
of  that  genuine  kindness  of  heart,  to  which  a  miracle  is 
not  merel}'  an  evidence,  nor  rendered  useless  as  soon 
as  the  power  to  work  it  is  confessed.  Jesus  did  not 
shrink  from  thus  repeating  Himself,  even  upon  a  lower 
level,  because  His  object  was  not  spectacular  but 
beneficent.     He  sought  not  to  astonish  but  to  bless. 

It   is  plain  that  Jesus  strove  to  lead  His  disciples, 


Markviii.  i-io.]         THE   FOUR    THOUSAND.  207 


aware  of  the  former  miracle,  up  to  the  notion  of  its 
repetition.  With  this  object  He  marshalled  all  the 
reasons  why  the  people  should  be  relieved.  "  I  have 
compassion  on  the  multitude,  because  they  continue 
^Yith  Me  now  three  days,  and  have  nothing  to  eat  :  and 
if  I  send  them  away  fasting  to  their  home,  they  will 
faint  in  the  way  ;  and  some  of  them  are  come  from 
far."  It  is  the  grand  argument  from  human  necessity 
to  the  Divine  compassion.  It  is  an  argument  which 
ought  to  weigh  equally  with  the  Church.  For  if  it  is 
promised  that  "  nothing  shall  be  impossible"  to  faith 
and  prayer,  then  the  deadly  wants  of  debauched  cities, 
of  ignorant  and  brutal  peasantries,  and  of  heathenisms 
festering  in  their  corruptions — all  thtsc,  by  their  very 
urgency,  are  vehement  appeals  instead  of  the  dis- 
couragements we  take  them  for.  And  whenever  man 
is  baftled  and  in  need,  there  he  is  entided  to  fall  back 
upon  the  resources  of  the  Omnipotent. 

It  may  be  that  the  disciples  had  some  glimmering 
hope,  but  they  did  not  venture  to  suggest  anything; 
they  only  asked,  Whence  shall  one  be  able  to  fill  these 
men  with  bread  here  in  a  desert  place  ?  It  is  the  cry 
of  unbelief — our  cry,  when  we  look  at  our  resources, 
and  declare  our  helplessness,  and  conclude  that  possibly 
God  may  interpose,  but  otherwise  nothing  can  be  done. 
We  ought  to  be  the  priests  of  a  famishing  world  (so 
jo-norant  of  any  relief,  so  miserable),  its  interpreters  and 
intercessors,  full  of  hope  and  energy.  But  we  are 
content  to  look  at  our  empty  treasuries,  and  ineffective 
oro-anizations,  and  to  ask.  Whence  shall  a  man  be  able 
to  fill  these  men  with  bread  ? 

They  have  ascertained  however  what  resources  are 
forthcoming,  and  these  He  proceeds  to  use,  first  de- 
manding the  faith  which  He  will    afcerwards  honour, 


2oS  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   I\IARK. 

by  bidding  the  multitudes  to  sit  down.  And  tlien  His 
loving  heart  is  gratified  by  relieving  the  hunger  which 
it  pitied,  and  He  promptly  sends  the  multitude  away, 
refreshed  and  competent  for  tlieir  journey. 

■  THE  LEAVEN   OF   THE   PHARISEES. 

"And  the  Pharisees  came  forth,  and  began  to  question  with  Him, 
seeking  of  Him  a  sign  hum  heaven,  tempting  Him.  And  He  siglied 
deeply  in  His  spiiit,  and  sailh,  Why  dotii  this  generation  seek  a  sign? 
verily  I  say  unto  3'ou,  There  shall  no  sign  be  given  unto  this  generation. 
And  He  left  them,  and  again  entering  into  the  boat  departed  to  the 
other  side.  And  they  forgot  to  take  bread  ;  and,  they  had  not  in  the 
boat  with  them  more  than  one  loaf.  And  He  charged  them,  saying, 
Tiike  heed,  beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees  and  the  leaven  of 
Herod.  And  they  reasoned  one  with  another,  saying,  We  have  no 
bread.  And  Jesus  perceiving  it  saith  unto  them,  Why  reason  ye,  because 
ye  have  no  bread  ?  do  ye  not  yet  perceive,  neither  understand?  have  ye 
your  heart  hardened  ?  Plaving  eyes,  see  ye  not  ?  and  having  ears,  hear 
ye  not  ?  and  do  ye  not  remember  ?  When  I  brake  the  five  loaves  among 
the  five  thousand,  how  many  baskets  full  of  broken  pieces  took  ye  up? 
They  said  unto  Him,  Twelve.  And  when  the  seven  among  the  four 
thousand,  how  many  basketfuls  of  broken  pieces  took  ye  ujj  ?  And  they 
said  unto  Him,  Seven.  And  He  said  unto  them.  Do  ye  not  yet  under- 
stand?"— M.A.RK  viii.  II-2I  (In.. v.). 

Whenever  a  miracle  produced  a  deep  and  special 
impression,  the  Pharisees  strove  to  spoil  its  effect  by 
some  counter-demonstration.  By  so  doing,  and  at  least 
appearing  to  hold  the  field,  since  Jesus  always  yielded 
this  to  them,  they  encouraged  their  own  faction,  and 
shook  the  confidence  of  the  feeble  and  hesitating 
multitude.  At  almost  every  crisis  they  might  have 
been  crushed  by  an  appeal  to  the  stormy  passions  of 
those  whom  the  Lord  had  blessed.  Once  Fie  might 
have  been  made  a  king.  Again  and  again  His  enemies 
were  conscious  that  an  imprudent  word  would  suffice 
to  make  the  people  stone  them.  But  that  would  have 
spoiled  the  real  work   of  Jesus  more  than    to  retreat 


Markviii.  II-21.]      THE  LEAVEN  OF  THE  PHARISEES.     209 

before  them,  now  across  the  lake,  or,  just  before, 
into  the  coasts  of  Tyre  and  Sldon.  Doubtless  it  was 
this  constant  avoidance  of  physical  conflict,  this  habitual 
repression  of  the  carnal  zeal  of  His  supporters,  this 
refusal  to  form  a  party  instead  of  founding  a  Church, 
which  renewed  incessantly  the  courage  of  His  often- 
baffled  foes,  and  led  Him,  by  the  path  of  steady  cease- 
less self-depression,  to  the  cross  which  He  foresaw, 
even  while  maintaining  His  unearthly  calm,  amid  the 
contradiction  of  sinners  against  Himself. 

Upon  the  feeding  of  the  four  thousand,  they  demand 
of  Him.  a  sign  from  heaven.  He  had  wrought  for  the 
public  no  miracle  of  this  peculiar  kind.  And  yet 
Moses  had  gone  up,  in  the  sight  of  all  Israel,  to  com- 
mune with  God  in  the  mount  that  burned  ;  Samuel  had 
been  answered  by  thunder  and  rain  in  the  wheat 
harvest ;  and  Elijah  had  called  down  fire  both  upon  his 
sacrifice  and  also  upon  two  captains  and  their  bands  of 
fift3^  Such  a  miracle  was  now  declared  to  be  the  regular 
authentication  of  a  messenger  from  God,  and  the  only 
sign  which  evil  spirits  could  not  counterfeit. 

Moreover  the  demand  would  specially  embarrass 
Jesus,  because  He  alone  was  not  accustomed  to  invoke 
heaven  :  His  miracles  were  wrought  by  the  exertion 
of  His  own  will.  And  perhaps  the  challenge  implied 
some  understanding  of  what  this  peculiarity  involved, 
such  as  Jesus  charged  them  with,  when  putting  into 
their  mouth  the  words.  This  is  the  heir,  come,  let  us 
kill  Him.  Certainly  the  demand  ignored  much.  Con- 
ceding the  fact  of  certain  miracles,  and  yet  imposing 
new  conditions  of  belief,  they  shut  their  eyes  to  the 
unique  nature  of  the  works  already  wrought,  the  glory 
as  of  the  Only-begotten  of  the  Father  which  they 
displayed.     They  held  that  thunder  and  lightning  re- 

14 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


vealed  God  more  certainly  than  supernatural  victories 
of  compassion,  tenderness  and  love.  What  could  be 
done  for  moral  blindness  such  as  this  ?  How  could 
any  sign  be  devised  which  unvvilline:  hearts  would  rot 
evade  ?  No  wonder  that  hearing  this  demand,  Jesus 
sighed  deeply  in  His  spirit.  It  revealed  their  utter 
hardness;  it  was  .a  snare  by  which  others  would  be' 
entangled  ;    and  for   Himself  it  foretold  the  cross. 

St.  Mark  simply  tells  us  that  He  refused  to  give  them 
any  sign.      In  St.   Matthew  He  justifies  this   decision 
by  rebuking  the  moral  blindness  which  demanded  it. 
They  had  material  enough  for  judgment.     The  face  of 
the  sky  foretold  storm  and  fair  weather,  and  the  pro- 
cess of  nature  could  be  anticipated  without  miracles  to 
coerce    belief.     And   thus   they  should  have  discerned 
the   import    cf  the    prophecies,   the  course   of  history, 
the  signs  of  the  times  in  which  they  lived,  so  plainly 
radiant    with    Messianic    promise,    so    menacing  with 
storm-clouds  of  vengeance  upon   sin.      The  sign  was 
refused  moreover  to  an  evil  and  adulterous  generation, 
as  God,  in  the  Old  Testament,  would   not  be  inquired 
of  at   all   by   such  a  people  as  this.       This  indignant 
rejoinder    St.   Mark    has    compressed    into  the   words, 
"  There  shall  no  sign  be  given  unto  this  generation"' 
— this    which   has    proof  enough,   and  which   deserves 
none.     Men  there  were  to  whom  a  sign  from  heaven 
was  not  refused.      At   His   baptism,  on  the  A'lount  of 
Transfiguration,  and   when    the    Voice    answered    His 
appeal,"  Father,  glorify  Thy  name,"  while  the  multitude 
said  onl}'  that  it  thundered — at  these  times  His  chosen 
ones  received   a    sign    from  heaven.       But  from  those 
who  had   not  was   taken   away  even   that    which  they 
seemed  to  have;  and  the  sign  of  Joi^iah  availed  ihcm  not. 
Once  more  Jesus  "  left  them  "  and  crossed  the  lake. 


Maikviii.  II-2I.]     THE  LEAVEN  OF  THE  PHARISEES.     211 

The  disciples  found  themselves  with  but  one  loaf, 
approaching  a  wilder  district,  where  the  ceremonial 
purity  of  food  could  not  easily  be  ascertained.  But 
they  had  already  acted  on  the  principle  which  Jesus 
had  formally  proclaimed,  that  all  meats  were  clean. 
And  therefore  it  was  not  too  much  to  expect  them  to 
penetrate  below  the  letter  of  the  words,  "  Take  heed, 
beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees,  and  the  leaven 
of  Herod."  In  giving  them  this  enigma  to  discover, 
He  acted  according  to  His  usage,  wrapping  the 
spiritual  truth  in  earthly  phrases,  picturesque  and 
impressive  ;  and  He  treated  them  as  life  treats  every 
one  of  us,  which  keeps  our  responsibility  still  upon  the 
strain,  by  presenting  new  moral  problems,  fresh  ques- 
tions and  trials  of  insight,  for  every  added  attainment 
which  lays  our  old  tasks  aside.  But  they  understood 
Him  not.  Some  new  ceremonial  appeared  to  them  to 
be  designed,  in  which  everything  would  be  reversed, 
and  the  unclean  should  be  those  hypocrites,  the 
strictest  observers  of  the  old  code.  Such  a  mistake, 
however  blameworthy,  reveals  the  profound  sense 
of  an  ever-widening  chasm,  and  an  expectation  of 
a  final  and  hopeless  ruptui'e  with  the  chiefs  of  their 
religion.  It  prepares  us  for  what  is  soon  to  come,  the 
contrast  between  the  popular  belief  and  theirs,  and  the 
selection  of  a  rock  on  which  a  new  Church  is  to  be 
built.  In  the  meantime  the  dire  practical  inconveni- 
ence of  this  announcement  led  to  hot  discussion,  be- 
cause they  had  no  bread.  And  Jesus,  perceiving  this, 
remonstrated  in  a  series  of  indignant  questions.  Per- 
sonal want  should  not  have  disturbed  their  judgment, 
remembering  that  twice  over  He  had  fed  hungry 
multitudes,  and  loaded  them  with  the  surplus  of  His 
gift.     Their  eyes    and    ears   should    have   taught  them 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


that  He  was  indiflferent  to  such  disthictions,  and  His 
doctrine  could  never  result  in  a  new  Judaism.  How 
was  it  that  they  did  not  understand  ? 

Thereupon  they  perceived  that  His  warning  was 
figurative.  He  had  spoken  to  them,  after  feeding  the 
five  thousand,  of  spiritual  bread  which  He  would  give, 
even  His  flesh  to  be  their  food.  What  then  could  He 
have  meant  by  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees  but  the 
imparling  of  their  religious  tendencies,  their  teaching, 
and  their  insincerity  ? 

Was  there  any  real  danger  that  these,  His  chosen 
ones,  should  be  shaken  by  the  demand  for  a  sign  from 
heaven  ?  Did  not  Philip  presently,  when  Christ  spoke 
of  seeing  the  Father,  eagerly  cry  out  that  this,  if  it 
were  granted,  would  suffice  them  ?  In  these  words  he 
confessed  the  misgiving  which  haunted  their  minds,  and 
the  longing  for  a  heavenly  sign.  And  yet  the  essence  of 
the  vision  of  God  was  in  the  life  and  the  love  which 
they  had  failed  to  know.  If  they  could  not  see  Him 
in  these.  He  must  for  ever  remain  invisible  to  them. 

We  too  require  the  same  caution.  When  we  long 
for  miracles,  neglecting  those  standing  miracles  of  our 
faith,  the  gospel  and  the  Church  :  when  our  reason  is 
satisfied  of  a  doctrine  or  a  duty,  and  yet  v/e  remain 
irresolute,  sighing  for  the  impulse  of  some  rare  spiritual 
enlightenment  or  excitement,  for  a  revival,  or  a  mission, 
or  an  oration  to  lift  us  above  ourselves,  we  are  virtu- 
ally asking  to  be  shown  what  we  already  confess,  to 
behold  a  sign,  while  we  possess  the  evidence. 

And  the  only  wisdom  of  the  languid,  irresolute  will, 
which  postpones  action  in  hope  that  feeling  may  be 
deepened,  is  to  pray.  It  is  by  the  effort  of  communion 
with  the  unfelt,  but  confessed  Reality  above  us,  that 
healthy  feeling  is  to  be  recovered. 


Mark  vili.  22-26.]  MEN  AS    TREES.  -zi-i, 


MEN  AS   TREES. 

"And  they  come  unto  Bethsaida.  And  they  bring  to  Him  a  blind 
man,  and  beseech  Him  to  touch  him.  And  ?Ie  took  hold  of  the  blind 
man  by  the  hand,  and  brought  him  out  of  the  villige;  and  when  He 
had  spit  on  his  eyes,  and  laid  His  hands  upon  him,  He  asked  him, 
Seest  thou  aught?  And  he  looked  up,  and  said,  I  see  men;  for  I 
behold  iheni  as  trees,  walking.  Then  again  He  laid  His  hands  upon 
his  eyes  ;  and  he  looked  stedfastly,  and  was  restored,  and  saw  all 
things  clearly.  And  He  sent  him  away  to  his  home,  saying;  Do  not 
even  enter  into  the  village." — Mark  viii.  22-26  (R.V.). 

When  the  disciples  arrived  at  Bethsaida,  they  were  met 
by  the  friends  of  a  bhnd  man,  who  besought  Him  to 
touch  him.  And  this  gave  occasion  to  the  most  remark- 
able by  far  of  all  the  progressive  and  tentative  miracles, 
in  which  means  were  employed,  and  the  result  was 
gradually  reached.  The  reasons  for  advancing  to  this 
cure  by  progressive  stages  have  been  much  discussed. 
St.  Chrysostom  and  many  others  have  conjectured  that 
the  blind  man  had  but  little  faith,  since  he  neither 
found  his  own  way  to  Jesus,  nor  pleaded  his  own 
cause,  like  Bartimaeus.  Others  brought  him,  and 
interceded  for  him.  This  may  be  so,  but  since  he  was 
clearly  a  consenting  party,  we  can  infer  little  from 
details  which  constitutional  timidity  v\^ould  explain,  or 
helplessness  (for  the  resources  of  the  blind  are  very 
various),  or  the  zeal  of  friends  or  of  paid  servants,  or 
the  mere  eagerness  of  a  crowd,  pushing  him  forward 
in  desire  to  see  a  marvel. 

We  cannot  expect  always  to  penetrate  the  motives 
which  varied  our  Saviour's  mode  of  action  ;  it  is 
enough  that  we  can  pretty  clearly  discern  some  prin- 
ciples which  led  to  their  variety.  Many  of  them, 
including  all  the  greatest,  were  wrought  without 
instrumentality  and   without    delay,    showing   His  un- 


214  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

restricted  and  underived  power.  Others  were  gradual, 
and  wrought  by  means.  These  connected  His  "signs" 
with  nature  and  the  God  of  nature  ;  and  they  could 
be  so  watched  as  to  silence  many  a  cavil ;  and  they 
exhibited,  by  the  very  disproportion  of  the  means,  the 
grandeur  of  the  Worker.  In  this  respect  the  successive 
stages  of  a  miracle  were  like  the  subdivisions  by  which 
a  skilful  architect  increases  the  effect  of  a  facade  or 
an  interior.  In  every  case  the  means  employed  were 
such  as  to  connect  the  result  most  intimately  with  the 
person  as  well  as  the  will  of  Christ. 

It  must  be  repeated  also,  that  the  need  of  secondary 
agents  shows  itself,  only  as  the  increasing  wilfulness  of 
Israel  separates  between  Christ  and  the  people.  It  is 
as  if  the  first  rush  of  generous  and  spontaneous  power 
had  been  frozen  by  the  chill  of  their  ingratitude. 

Jesus  again,  as  when  healing  the  deaf  and  dumb, 
withdraws  from  idle  curiosity.  And  we  read,  what  is 
very  impressive  when  we  remember  that  any  of  the 
disciples  could  have  been  bidden  to  lead  tlie  blind  man, 
that  Jesus  Himself  drew  Him  by  the  hand  out  of  the 
village.  What  would  have  been  affectation  in  other 
cases  was  a  graceful  courtesy  to  the  blind.  And  it  re- 
veals to  us  the  hearty  human  benignity  and  condescension 
of  Him  Whom  to  see  was  to  see  the  Father,  that  He 
should  have  clasped  in  His  helpful  hand  the  hand  of  a 
blind  suppliant  for  His  grace.  Moistening  his  eyes 
from  His  own  lips,  and  laying  His  hands  upon  him,  so 
as  to  convey  the  utmost  assurance  of  power  actually 
exerted,  He  asked,  Seest  thou  aught  ? 

The  answer  is  very  striking  :  it  is  such  as  the  know- 
ledge of  that  day  could  scarcely  have  imagined  ;  and 
yet  it  is  in  the  closest  accord  with  later  scientific 
discovery.     What  we  call  the  act  of  vision  is  reall}'  a 


Mail:  viii.  22-26.]  MEN  AS    TREES,  215 

two-fold  process  ;  there  is  in  it  the  report  of  the  nerves 
to  the  brain,  and  also  an  inference,  drawn  by  the  mind, 
which  previous  experience  has  educated  to  understand 
what  that  report  implies.  For  want  of  such  experience, 
an  infant  thinks  the  moon  as  near  him  as  the  lamp,  and 
reaches  out  for  it.  And  when  Christian  science  does 
its  Master's  work  by  opening  the  eyes  of  men  who 
have  been  born  blind,  they  do  not  know  at  first  what 
appearances  belong  to  globes  and  v.hat  to  flat  and 
square  objects.  It  is  certain  that  every  image  conveyed 
to  the  brain  reaches  it  upside  down,  and  is  corrected 
there.  When  Jesus  then  restored  a  blind  man  to  the 
perfect  enjoyment  of  effective  intelligent  vision,  He 
wrought  a  double  miracle  ;  one  which  instructed  the 
intelligence  of  the  blind  man  as  well  as  opened  his 
eyes.  This  was  utterly  unknown  to  that  age.  But  the 
scepticism  of  our  century  would  complain  that  to  open 
the  eyes  was  not  enough,  and  that  such  a  miracle 
would  have  left  the  man  perplexed;  and  it  would  refuse  to 
accept  narratives  which  took  no  account  of  this  difficulty, 
but  that  the  cavil  is  anticipated.  The  miracle  now  be- 
fore us  refutes  it  in  advance,  for  it  recognises,  what  no 
spectator  and  no  early  reader  of  the  marvel  could  have 
understood,  the  middle  stage,  when  sight  is  gained  but 
is  still  uncomprehended  and  inefiective.  The  process 
is  shown  as  well  as  the  completed  work.  Only  by  their 
motion  could  he  at  first  distinguish  living  creatures 
from  lifeless  things  of  far  greater  bulk.  "  He  looked 
up,"  (mark  this  picturesque  detail,)  "  and  said,  I  see 
men  ;  for  I  behold  them  as  trees,  walking," 

But  Jesus  leaves  no  unfinished  work  :  "  Then  again 
laid  He  His  hands  upon  his  eyes,  and  he  looked  sted- 
fastl}',  and  was  restored,  and  saw  all  things  clearly." 

In  this  narrative  there  is  a  deep  significance.     That 


2i6  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARIC 

vision,  forfeited  until  grace  restores  it,  by  which  we 
look  at  the  things  which  are  not  seen,  is  not  always 
quite  restored  at  once.  We  are  conscious  of  great  per- 
plexity, obscurity  and  confusion.  But  a  real  work  of 
Christ  may  have  begun  amid  much  that  is  imperfect, 
much  that  is  even  erroneous.  And  the  path  of  the  just 
is  often  a  haze  and  twilight  at  the  first,  yet  is  its  light 
real,  and  one  that  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the 
perfect   day. 

THE    CONFESSION   AND    THE    WARNING. 

"  And  JesiK  went  forth,  and  His  disciples,  into  tlie  villnges  of 
Ceesarea  Pliilippi :  and  in  the  way  He  asked  His  disciples,  saying  unto 
them.  Who  do  men  say  that  I  am?  And  they  told  Him,  saying,  John 
the  Baptist:  and  others,  Elijah;  but  others,  One  of  the  prophets. 
And  He  asked  them.  But  Who  say  ye  that  I  am  ?  Peter  answereth 
and  saith  unto  Him,  Thou  art  the  Christ.  And  He  charged  them  that 
they  should  tell  no  man  of  Him.  And  He  began  to  teach  them,  that 
the  Son  of  man  must  suffer  many  things,  and  be  rejected  by  the  elders, 
and  the  chief  priests,  and  the  scribes,  and  be  killed,  and  after  three  days 
rise  again.  And  He  spake  the  saying  openly." — Maui-:  viii.  27-32 
(R.V.). 

We  have  now  reached  an  important  stage  in  the 
Gospel  narrative,  the  comparative  withdrawal  from 
evangelistic  effort,  and  the  preparation  of  the  disciples 
for  an  approaching  tragedy.  We  find  thein  in  the 
wild  country  to  the  north  of  the  Lake  of  Galilee,  and 
even  as  far  withdrawn  as  to  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
sources  of  the  Jordan.  Not  without  a  deliberate  in- 
tention has  Jesus  led  them  thither.  He  wishes  them 
to  realise  their  separation.  He  will  fix  upon  th:ir 
consciousness  the  failure  of  the  v^'orld  to  comprehend 
Him,  and  give  them  the  opportunity  either  to  acknow- 
ledge Him,  or  sink  back  to  the  lower  level  of  the  crowd. 
This  is  what  interests  St.  Mark ;  and  it  is  worthy  of 


Mavkviii.  27-33.]     CONFESSION  AND    IVARNIA'G.  2x7 

spenal   honour  b.stowed  upon   mm  by  Cm  .st   nor  tae         ^ 
SL  utterance  of  the  memorable  words  ^'  ^^^^^^ 

'<  Who  do  men  say  that  I  am  ?     Jesus  a..ed.     The 
answer   would    tell    of    acceptance    or    rejection      tne 
success  or  failure  of  His   ministry,  regarded  in  itselt, 
and  apart  from  ultimate  issues  unknown    to  ^  ^^orta^s 
From  this  point  of  view  it  had  very  plamly  failed.     At 
the 'beginning   there  was   a    clear   hope  that  this  was 
He  that  should  come,  the  Son  of  David,  the  Holy  One 
of  God.     But  now  the  pitch  of  men's  expectation  was 
lowered.     Some  said,  John  the  Baptist,  -- .^^^  ^- 
dead,   as  Herod  feared;  others   spoke  o     ^^^'j!^^ 
was  to  come  before  the  great  and  notable  day  of  th. 
Lord-  in    the    sadness    of   His    later    days   some    had 
begun  to  see  a  resemblance  to  Jeremiah,  lamenting    he 
rum  of  his  nation  ;   and  others  fancied  a  resemblance  to 
various  of  the  prophets.     Beyond  this  tl-  apostles  con- 
fessed  that  men  were  not  known  to  go.     Their  enthus  -- 
asm  had  cooled,  almost  as  rapidly  as  in  the  trmmpnal 
procession,   where   they   who   blessed    both    H.m,    an        • 
^the  kingdom    that   cometh,"   no   sooner  felt   the   chdl 
of  contact  with   the   priestly   faction,   than    their  con- 
fession dwindled  into  "This  is  Jesus,   the  P^opaet  of 
Nazareth."       "But    Who    say    ye    that    1    am  ?       He 
added;  and  it  depended  on  the  answer  whether  01  not 
there   should    prove  to   be   any  solid  foundation,    any 
rock,  on  which  to  build  His  Church.     Much  difference, 
niuch  error  may  be  tolerated  there,  but  on  one  subjcc. 
there   must  be  no  hesitation.     To   make   Him   only  a 
prophet  among  others,  to  honour  Him  even  as  the  first 
among  the  teachers  of  mankind,  is  to  empty  His  lue 
of  its    meaning,    His    death  of   its    efficacy,   and    His 
Church  of  its  authority.     And  yet  the  danger  was  real, 


>iS  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 


as  we  may  see  by  the  fervent  blessing  (unrecorded  in 
our  Gospel)  which  the  right  answer  won.  For  it  was 
no  longer  the  bright  morning  of  His  career,  when  all 
bare  Him  witness  and  wondered  ;  the  noon  was  over 
now,  and  the  evening  shadows  w^ere  heavy  and  lower- 
ing. To  confess  Him  then  was  to  have  learned  what 
flesh  and  blood  could  not  reveal. 

But  Peter  did  not  hesitate.  In  answer  to  the 
question,  "Who  say  j'^  ?  Is  your  judgment  like  the 
the  world's  ?  "  He  does  not  reply,  "We  beUeve,  we 
say,"  but  with  all  the  vigour  of  a  mind  at  rest,  "  Thou 
art  the  Christ ; "  that  is  not  even  a  subject  of  discus- 
sion :  the  fact  is  so. 

Here  one  pauses  to  admire  the  spirit  of  the  disciples, 
so  unjustly  treated  in  popular  exposition  because  they 
were  but  human,  because  there  were  dangers  which 
could  appal  them,  and  because  the  course  of  providence 
was  designed  to  teach  them  how  weak  is  the  loftiest 
human  virtue.  Nevertheless,  they  could  part  company 
with  all  they  had  been  taught  to  reverence  and  with 
the  unanimous  opinion  of  their  native  land,  they  could 
watch  the  slow  fading  out  of  public  enthusiasm,  and 
continue  faithful,  because  they  knew  and  revered  the 
Divine  life,  and  the  glory  which  was  hidden  from  the 
wise  and  prudent. 

The  confession  of  Peter  is  variously  stated  in  the 
Gospels.  St.  Matthew  wrote  for  Jews,  familiar  with 
the  notion  of  a  merely  human  Christ,  and  St.  Luke 
for  mixed  Churches.  Therefore  the  first  Gospel  gives 
the  explicit  avowal  not  only  of  Messiahship,  but  of 
divinity ;  and  the  third  Gospel  implies  this.  "  Thou 
art  the  Christ,  tlie  Son  of  the  living  God " — "  the 
Christ  of  God."  But  St.  Mark  wrote  for  Gentiles, 
whose  first  and  only  notion  of  the  Messiah  was  derived 


M-rl.;\ ill.  27-32.]     CONFESSION  AND    WARNING.  219 


from  Christian  sources,  and  steeped  in  Christian  attri- 
butes, so  that,  for  their  intelhgence,  all  the  great  avowal 
was  imphcd  in  tlie  title  itself,  Thou  art  the  Christ.  Yet 
it  is  instructive  to  see  men  insisting  on  the  difference, 
and  even  exaggerating  it,  who  know  that  this  Gospel 
opens  with  an  assertion  of  the  Divine  sonship  of  Jesus, 
and  whose  theory  is  that  its  author  worked  with  the 
Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  before  his  eyes.  How  then, 
or  why,  do  they  suppose  the  confession  to  have  been 
weakened  ? 

This  foundation  of  His  Church  being  secured,  His 
Divine  Messiahship  being  confessed  in  the  face  of  an 
unbelieving  world,  Jesus  lost  no  time  in  leading  His 
apostles  forward.  They  were  forbidden  to  tell  any 
man  of  Him :  the  vain  hope  was  to  be  absolutely 
suppressed  of  winning  the  people  to  confess  their  king. 
The  effort  would  only  make  it  harder  for  themselves 
to  accept  that  stern  truth  which  they  were  now  to 
learn,  that  His  matchless  roj'alty  was  to  be  won  by 
matchless  suffering.  Never  hitherto  had  Jesus  pro- 
claimed this  truth,  as  He  now  did,  in  so  many  words, 
it  had  been,  indeed,  the  secret  spring  of  many  of  His 
sayings  ;  and  we  ought  to  mark  Vv'hat  loving  ingenuity 
was  lavished  upon  the  task  of  gradually  preparing 
them  for  the  dread  shock  of  this  announcement.  The 
Bridegroom  v\'as  to  be  taken  av;ay  from  them,  and 
then  they  should  fast.  The  temple  of  His  body  should 
be  destro^^ed,  and  in  three  days  reared  again.  The 
blood  of  all  the  slaughtered  prophets  was  to  come 
upon  this  generation.  It  should  sufhce  them,  when 
persecuted  unto  death,  that  the  disciple  was  as  His 
TJaster.  It  was  still  a  plainer  intimation  when  He 
said,  that  to  follow  Him  was  to  take  up  a  cross.  His 
flesh  was  promised  to  them  for  meat  and   His  blood 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


for  drink.  (Chap.  ii.  20;  John  ii.  19;  Luke  xi.  50; 
Matt.  X.  21,  25;  38;  John  vi.  54.)  Such  intima- 
tions Jesus  had  ah-eady  given  them,  and  doubt- 
less many  a  cold  shadow,  many  a  dire  misgiving 
had  crept  over  their  sunny  hopes.  But  these  it  had 
been  possible  to  explain  away,  and  the  eiibrt,  the 
attitude  of  mental  antagonism  thus  forced  upon  them, 
would  make  the  grief  more  bitter,  the  gloom  more 
deadly,  when  Jesus  spoke  openly  the  saying,  thence- 
forth so  frequently  repeated,  that  He  must  suffer 
keenly,  be  rejected  formally  by  the  chiefs  of  His 
creed  and  nation,  and  be  killed.  When  He  recurs 
to  the  subject  (ix.  31),  He  adds  the  horror  of  being 
"  delivered  into  the  hands  of  men."  In  the  tenth 
chapter  we  find  Him  setting  His  face  toward  the  city 
outside  which  a  prophet  could  not  perish,  with  such 
fixed  purpose  and  awful  consecration  in  His  bearing 
that  His  followers  were  amazed  and  afraid.  And 
then  He  reveals  the  complicity  of  the  Gentiles,  who 
shall  mock  and  spit  upon  and  scourge  and  kill  Him. 

But  in  every  case,  without  exception.  He  announced 
that  on  the  third  day  He  should  arise  again.  For 
neither  was  He  Himself  sustained  by  a  sullen  and 
stoical  submission  to  the  worst,  nor  did  He  seek  so, 
to  instruct  His  followers.  It  was  for  the  joy  that  was 
set  before  Him  that  He  endured  the  cross.  And  all 
the  faithful  who  suffer  with  Him  shall  also  reign 
together  with  Him,  and  are  instructed  to  press 
toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  their  high  calling. 
For  we  are  saved  by  hope. 

But  now,  contrast  with  the  utmost  courage  of  the 
martyrs,  who  braved  the  worst,  when  it  emerged  at 
the  kst  suddenly  from  the  veil  which  mercifully  hides 
our    future,    and    which    hope    can    always   gild   with 


Mark  vili.  3--.  i.]       THE^UUSUKE^OI^PETER. 

'^^^^^T'^^^^^^^Z^^s    courage     that    looked    steadily 
forward,    disguising    nothing,    hoping    for    no    escape, 
livin-   through    all  the  agony  so  long  before  it  came, 
seein"-  His  wounds  in  the  breaking  of  bread,  and  His 
blood%vhen  ^vine  was  poured.     Consider  how  marvel- 
lous was  the  love,  which  met  with  no  real  sympathy 
nor  even  comprehension,   as  He   spoke  such  dreadful 
words,  and  forced  Himself  to  repeat  what  must  have 
shaken   the    barb    He   carried  in    His   heart,  that   by- 
and-by   His   followers    might  be  somewhat   helped  by 
remembering  that  He  had  told  them. 

And  yet  again,  consider  how  immediately  the  doctrme 
of  His  suffering  follows  upon  the  confession  of  His 
Christnood,  and  judge  whether  the  crucifixion  w-as 
merely  a  painful  incident,  the  sad  close  of  a  noble 
life  and  a  pure  ministry,  or  in  itself  a  necessary  and 
cardinal  event,  fraught  with  transcendent  issues. 

THE   REBUKE    OF  FETER. 

"  And  He  snake  the  saying  openly.  And  Peter  took  Him,  and 
beoan  to  rebuke  Him."  ...  -  And  He  said  mito  them,  Verily  I  say  unto 
YOU  There  be  some  here  of  them  that  stand  by,  ^vhlch  shall  in  no 
iise  taste  of  death,  till  they  see  the  kingdom  of  God  come  %vith 
power."— INlArac  viii.  32-ix.   i   (R.V.). 

The  doctrine  of  a  suftering  Messiah  was  strange  in  the 
time  of  Jesus.  And  to  the  warm-hearted  apostle  the 
announcement  that  his  beloved  Master  should  endure  a 
shameful  death  was  keenly  painful.  Moreover,  what 
had  just  passed  made  it  specially  unwelcome  then. 
Jesus  had  accepted  and  applauded  a  confession  which 
implied  all  honour.  He  had  promised  to  build  a  new 
Church  upon  a  rock  ;  and  claimed,  as  His  to  give  away, 
the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Hopes  were  thus 
excited  which  could  not  brook  His   stern   repression  ; 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK, 


and  the  career  which  the  aoostle  promised  himself 
was  very  unhke  that  defence  of  a  lost  cause,  and  a 
persecuted  and  mart3'red  leader,  which  now  threatened 
him.  The  rebuke  of  Jesus  clearly  warns  Peter,  that  he 
had  miscalculated  his  own  prospect  as  well  as  that  of 
his  Lord,  and  that  he  must  prepare  for  the  burden  of  a 
cross.  Above  all,  it  is  plain  that  Peter  was  intoxicated 
by  the  great  position  just  assigned  to  him,  and  allowed 
himself  an  utterly  strange  freedom  of  interference  with 
his  Master's  plans.  He  "  took  tlim  and  began  to 
rebuke  Him,"  evidently  drawing  Him  aside  for  the 
purpose,  since  Jesus  "  turned  about  "  in  order  to  see 
the  disciples  whom  He  had  just  addressed.  Thus  our 
narrative  implies  that  commission  of  the  keys  to  him 
which  it  omits  to  mention,  and  we  learn  how  absurd  is 
the  infidel  contention  that  each  evangelist  was  ignorant 
of  all  that  he  did  not  record.  Did  the  appeal  against 
those  gloomy  forebodings  of  Jesus,  the  protest  that 
such  evil  must  not  be,  the  refusal  to  recognise  a 
prophecy  in  His  fears,  awaken  any  answer  in  the 
sinless  heart  ?  Sympathy  was  not  there,  nor  approval, 
nor  any  shade  of  readiness  to  yield.  But  innocent 
human  desire  for  escape,  the  love  of  life,  horror  of  His 
fate,  more  intense  as  it  vibrated  in  the  apostle's  shaken 
voice,  these  He  assuredly  felt.  For  He  tells  us  in  so 
many  words  that  Peter  was  a  stumbling-block  to  Him, 
although  He,  walking  in  the  clear  da}',  stumbled  not. 
Jesus,  let  us  repeat  it  again  and  again,  endured  not 
like  a  Stoic,  deadening  the  natural  impulses  of  humanity. 
Whatever  outraged  His  tender  and  perfect  nature  was 
not  less  dreadful  to  Him  than  to  us  ;  it  was  much  more 
so,  because  His  sensibilities  were  unblunted  and  ex- 
quisitely strung.  At  every  thought  of  what  lay  before 
Him,  his  soul  shuddered  like  a  rudely   touched  instru- 


Markviii.32-ix.i.]       1  HE   REBUKE    OF  PETER. 


ment  of  most  delicate  structure.  And  it  was  necessary 
that  He  sliould  throw  back  the  temptation  with  indig- 
nation and  even  vehemence,  with  the  rebuke  of  heaven 
set  against  the  presumptuous  rebuke  of  flesh,  "  Get 
thee  behind  Me.  ...  for  thou  art  mindful  not  of  the 
things  of  God,  but  the  things  of  men." 

But  what  shall  we  say  to  the  hard  word,  "  Satan  "  ? 
Assuredly  Peter,  who  remained  faithful  to  Him,  did 
not  take  it  for  an  outbreak  of  bitterness,  an  exaggerated 
epithet  of  unbridled  and  undisciplined  resentment. 
The  very  time  occupied  in  looking  around,  the  "  circum- 
spection "  which  was  shown,  while  it  gave  emphasis, 
removed  passion  from  the  saying. 

Peter  would  therefore  understand  that  Jesus  heard, 
in  his  voice,  the  prompting  of  the  great  tempter,  to 
whom  He  had  once  already  spoken  the  same  words. 
He  would  be  warned  that  soft  and  indulgent  sentiment, 
while  seeming  kind,  may  become  the  very  snare  of 
the  destroyer. 

And  the  strong  word  which  sobered  him  will 
continue  to  be  a  warning  to  the  end  of  time. 

When  love  of  ease  or  worldly  prospects  would  lead 
us  to  discourage  the  self-devotion,  and  repress  the 
zeal  of  any  convert ;  when  toil  or  liberality  beyond  the 
recognised  level  seems  a  thing  to  discountenance,  not 
because  it  is  perhaps  misguided,  but  only  because  it  is 
exceptional ;  when,  for  a  brother  or  a  son,  we  are  tempted 
to  prefer  an  easy  and  prosperous  life  rather  than  a 
fruitful  but  stern  and  even  perilous  course,  then  we  are 
in  the  same  danger  as  Peter  of  becoming  the  mouth- 
piece of  the  Evil  One. 

Danger  and  hardness  are  not  to  be  chosen  for  their 
own  sake ;  but  to  reject  a  noble  vocation,  because  these 
are  in  the  way,  is  to  mind  not  the  things  of  God  but  the 


224  GOSPEL    OF  ST.  MARK. 

things  of  men.  And  yet  the  temptation  is  one  from 
which  men  are  never  free,  and  whach  intrudes  into 
what  seems  most  holy.  It  dared  to  assail  Jesus  ;  and  it 
is  most  perilous  still,  because  it  often  speaks  to  us,  as 
then  to  Him,  throu;jh  compassionate  and  loving  lips. 

But  now  the  Lord  calls  to  Himself  all  the  multitude, 
and  la^'s  down  the  rule  by  which  discipleship  must  to 
the  end  be  regulated. 

The  inflexible  law  is,  that  every  follower  of  Jesus 
must  deny  himself  and  take  up  his  cross.  It  is  not 
said,  Let  him  devise  some  harsh  and  ingenious  instru- 
ment of  self-torture  :  wanton  self-torture  is  cruelty,  and 
is  often  due  to  the  soul's  readiness  rather  to  endure 
any  other  suffering  than  that  which  God  assigns.  Nor 
is  it  said,  Let  him  take  up  My  cross,  for  the  burden 
Christ  bore  devolves  upon  no  other :  the  fight  He 
fought  is  over. 

But  it  speaks  of  some  cross  allotted,  known,  but  not 
yet  accepted,  some  lowly  form  of  suffering,  passive  or 
active,  against  which  nature  pleads,  as  Jesus  heard 
His  own  nature  pleading  when  Peter  spoke.  In  taking 
up  this  cross  we  must  deny  self,  for  it  will  refuse  the 
dreadful  burden.  What  it  is,  no  man  can  tell  his 
neighbour,  for  often  v.'hat  seems  a  fatal  besetment  is 
but  a  symptom  and  not  the  true  disease ;  and  the 
angry  man's  irritability,  and  the  drunkard's  resort  to 
stimulants,  are  due  to  remorse  and  self-reproach  for  a 
deeper-hidden  evil  gnawing  the  spiritual  life  away.  But 
the  man  himself  knows  it.  Our  exhortations  miss  the 
mark  when  we  bid  him  reform  in  this  direction  or  in 
that,  but  conscience  does  not  err ;  and  he  well  dis- 
cerns the  effort  or  the  renouncement,  hateful  to  him 
as  the  very  cross  itself,  by  which  alone  he  can  enter 
into  life. 


Markviii.32-ix.  I.]        THE   REBUKE    OF   PETER.  225 


To  him,  that  hfe  seems  death,  the  death  of  all  for 
which  he  cares  to  hve,  being  indeed  the  death  of 
selfishness.  But  from  the  beginning,  when  God  in  ■ 
Eden  set  a  barrier  against  lawless  appetite,  it  was 
announced  that  the  seeming  life  of  self-indulgence 
and  of  disobedience  was  really  death.  In  the  day 
when  Adam  ate  of  the  forbidden  fruit  he  surely  died. 
And  thus  our  Lord  declared  that  whosoever  is  resolved 
to  save  his  life — the  life  of  wayward,  isolated  selfish- 
ness— he  shall  lose  all  its  reality,  the  sap,  the  sweetness, 
and  the  glow  of  it.  And  whosoever  is  content  to  lose 
all  this  for  the  sake  of  the  Great  Cause,  the  cause  of 
Jesus  and  His  gospel,  he  shall  save  it. 

It  was  thus  that  the  great  apostle  was  crucified  with 
Christ,  yet  lived,  and  yet  no  longer  he,  for  Christ 
Himself  inspired  in  his  breast  a  nobler  and  deeper 
life  than  that  which  he  had  lost,  for  Jesus  and  the 
gospel.  The  world  knows,  as  the  Church  does,  how 
much  superior  is  self-devotion  to  self-indulgence,  and 
that  one  crowded  hour  of  glorious  life  is  worth  an  age 
without  a  name.  Its  imagination  is  not  inflamed  by 
the  picture  of  indolence  and  luxury,  but  by  resolute 
and  victorious  effort.  But  it  knows  not  how  to  master 
the  rebellious  senses,  nor  how  to  insure  victory  in  the 
struggle,  nor  how  to  bestow  upon  the  masses,  plunged 
in  their  monotonous  toils,  the  rapture  of  triumphant 
strife.  That  can  only  be  done  by  revealing  to  them 
the  spiritual  responsibilities  of  life,  and  the  beauty  of 
His  love  Who  calls  the  humblest  to  walk  in  His  own 
sacred  footsteps. 

Very  striking  is  the  moderation  of  Jesus,  Who  does 
not  refuse  discipleship  to  sell-seeking  wishes  but  only 
to  the  self-seeking  w-ill,  in  -which  \\ishes  have  ripened 
into  choice,  nor  does  He  demand  tliat  we  should  wel- 

15 


226  GOSPEL    OF  ST.  MARK. 

come  the  loss  of  the  inferior  life,  but  only  that  we 
should  accept  it.  He  can  be  touched  with  the  feeling 
of  our  infirmities. 

And  striking  also  is  this,  that  He  condemns  not  the 
vicious  life  only  :  not  alone  the  man  whose  desires  are 
sensual  and  depraved  ;  but  all  who  live  for  self.  No 
matter  how  refined  and  artistic  the  personal  ambitions 
be,  to  devote  ourselves  to  them  is  to  lose  the  reality 
of  life,  it  is  to  become  querulous  or  jealous  or  vain  or 
forgetful  of  the  claims  of  other  men,  or  scornful  of  the 
crowd.  Not  self-culture  but  self-sacrifice  is  the  voca- 
tion of  the  child  of  God. 

Many  people  speak  as  if  this  text  bade  us  sacrifice 
the  present  life  in  hope  of  gaining  another  life  beyond 
the  grave.  That  is  apparently  the  common  notion  of 
saving  our  "souls."  But  Jesus  used  one  word  for  the 
"life"  renounced  and  gained.  He  spoke  indeed  of 
saving  it  unto  life  eternal,  but  His  hearers  v/ere  men 
who  trusted  that  they  had  eternal  life,  not  that  it  was 
a  far-off  aspiration  (John  vi.  47,  54). 

And  it  is  doubtless  in  the  same  sense,  thinking  of 
the  freshness  and  joy  which  we  sacrifice  for  worldlincss, 
and  how  sadly  and  soon  we  are  disillusionised,  that  He 
went  on  to  ask.  What  shall  it  profit  a  man  to  gain  the 
whole  world  and  forfeit  His  life  ?  Or  with  what  price 
shall  he  buy  it  back  when  he  discovers  his  error  ? 
But  that  discovery  is  too  often  postponed  beyond  the 
horizon  of  mortality.  As  one  desire  proves  futile, 
another  catches  the  eye,  and  somewhat  excites  again 
the  often  baffled  hope.  But  the  day  shall  come  when 
the  last  self-deception  shall  be  at  an  end.  The  cross 
of  tbe  Son  of  man,  that  type  of  all  noble  sacrifice,  shall 
then  be  replaced  by  the  glory  of  His  Father  with  tlie 
holy  angels ;  and  ignoble  compromise,  aware  of  Jesus 


Markviii.  3--ix.  I.]       THE   REBUKE    OF  PETER.  227 

and  His  words,  yet  ashamed  of  them  in  a  vicious  and 
self-indulgent  age,  shall  in  turn  endure  His  averted  face. 
What  price  shall  they  offer  then,  to  buy  back  what 
they  have  forfeited  ? 

Men  who  were  standing  there  should  see  the  begin- 
ning of  the  end,  the  approach  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
with  power,  in  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  removal 
of  the  Hebrew  candlestick  out  of  its  place. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE    TRANSFIGURATION. 

'•  And  after  six  clays  Jesus  taketh  with  Him  Peter,  and  James,  and 
John,  and  bringeth  them  up  into  a  high  mountain  apart  by  themselves  : 
and  He  was  transfigured  be/ore  tliem  :  and  His  garments  became 
glistering,  exceeding  white :  so  as  no  fuller  on  earth  can  whiten  them. 
And  there  appeared  unto  them  Elijah  with  Moses  :  and  they  were 
talking  with  Jesus.  And  Peter  answered  and  saith  to  Jesus,  Rabbi,  it 
is  good  for  us  to  be  here  :  and  let  us  make  tliree  tabernacles  ;  one  for 
Thee,  and  one  for  Moses,  and  one  for  Elijah.  For  He  wist  not  what 
to  answer ;  for  they  becaine  sore  afraid.  And  there  came  a  cloud 
overshadowing  them  :  and  tliere  came  a  voice  out  of  the  cloud.  This  is 
My  beloved  Son  :  hear  ye  Him.  And  suddenly  looking  round  about, 
they  saw  no  one  any  more,  save  Jesus  only  with  themselves." — 
Maric  ix.  2-S  (R.V.). 

THE  Transfiguration  is  an  event  without  a  parallel 
in  all  the  story  of  our  Lord.  This  breaking  forth 
of  unearthly  splendour  in  a  life  of  self-negation,  this 
miracle  wrought  without  suffering  to  be  relieved  or 
want  supplied,  and  in  which  He  seems  to  be  not  the 
Giver  of  Help  but  the  Receiver  of  Glory,  arrests  our 
attention  less  by  the  greatness  of  the  marvel  than  by 
its  loneliness. 

But  if  myth  or  legend  had  to  do  w^ilh  the  making  of 
our  Gospels,  we  should  have  had  wonders  enough 
which  bless  no  suppliant,  but  only  crown  the  sacred 
head  with  laurels.  They  are  as  plentiful  in  the  false 
Gospels  as  in  the  later  stories  of  Mahomed  or  Gautama. 
Can    we    find    a    sufficient    difference    between    these 


Mark  ix.  2-8.]  THE    TRANSFIGURATION.  229 

romantic  tales  and  this  memorable  event — causes 
enough  to  lead  up  to  it,  and  ends  enough  for  it  to 
serve  ? 

An  answer  is  hinted  by  the  stress  laid  in  all  three 
narratives  upon  the  date  of  the  Transfiguration.  It 
was  "  after  six  days "  according  to  the  first  two. 
St.  Luke  reckons  the  broken  portions  of  the  first  day 
and  the  last,  and  makes  it  "about  eight  days  after 
these  sayings."  A  week  has  passed  since  the  solemn 
announcement  that  their  Lord  was  journeying  to  a 
cruel  death,  that  self  pity  was  discordant  with  the 
things  of  God,  that  all  His  followers  must  in  spirit 
endure  the  cross,  that  life  was  to  be  won  by  losing  it. 
Of  that  week  no  action  is  recorded,  and  we  may  well 
believe  that  it  was  spent  in  profound  searcliings  of 
heart.  The  thief  Iscariot  would  more  than  ever  be 
estranged.  The  rest  would  aspire  and  struggle  and 
recoil,  and  explain  away  His  words  in  such  strange 
ways,  as  when  they  presently  failed  to  understand  what 
the  rising  again  from  the  dead  should  mean  (ver.  lo). 
But  in  the  deep  heart  of  Jesus  there  was  peace,  the 
same  which  He  bequeathed  to  all  His  followers,  the 
perfect  calm  of  an  absolutely  surrendered  will.  He 
had  made  the  dread  announcement  and  rejected  the 
insidious  appeal;  the  sacrifice  was  already  accomplished 
in  his  inner  self,  and  the  word  spoken,  Lo,  I  come  to  do 
Thy  will,  O  God.  We  must  steadily  resist  the  notion 
that  the  Transfiguration  was  required  to  confirm  His 
consecration  ;  or,  after  six  days  had  passed  since  He 
bade  Satan  get  behind  Llim,  to  complete  and  perfect 
His  decision.  Yet  doubtless  it  had  its  meaning  for 
Him  also.  Such  times  of  more  than  heroic  self-devo- 
tion make  large  demands  upon  the  vital  energies, 
/.nd  He  whom  the  angels  more  than  once  sustained, 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


now  sought  refreshment  in  the  pure  air  and  solemn 
silence  of  the  hills,  and  above  all  in  communion  with  His 
Father,  since  we  read  in  St.  Luke  that  He  went  up 
to  pray.  Who  shall  say  how  far-reaching,  how  all- 
embracing  such  a  prayer  would  be  ?  What  age,  what 
race  may  not  hope  to  have  shared  its  intercessions, 
remembering  how  He  once  expressly  prayed  not  for 
His  immediate  followers  alone.  But  we  need  not 
doubt  that  now,  as  in  the  Garden,  He  prayed  also  for 
Himself,  and  for  support  in  the  approaching  death- 
struggle.  And  the  Twelve,  so  keenly  tried,  would  be 
especially  remembered  in  this  season.  And  even 
among  these  there  would  be  distinctions  ;  for  we  know 
His  manner,  we  remember  that  when  Satan  claimed 
to  have  them  all,  Jesus  prayed  especially  for  Peter, 
because  his  conversion  would  strengthen  his  brethren. 
Now  this  principle  of  benefit  to  all  through  the  selection 
of  the  fittest,  explains  why  three  were  chosen  to  be 
the  eye-witnesses  of  His  glory.  If  the  others  had  been 
there,  perhaps  they  would  have  been  led  away  into 
millennarian  day-dreams.  Perhaps  the  worldly  aspira- 
tions of  Judas,  thus  inflamed,  would  have  spread  far. 
Perhaps  they  would  have  murmured  against  that  return 
to  common  life,  which  St.  Peter  was  so  anxious  to 
postpone.  Perhaps  even  the  chosen  three  were  only 
saved  from  intoxicating  and  delusive  hopes  by  the 
sobering  knowledge  that  what  they  had  seen  was  to 
remain  a  secret  until  some  intervening  and  mysterious 
event.  The  unripeness  of  the  others  for  special  reve- 
lations was  abundantly  shown,  on  the  morrow,  by  their 
failure  to  cast  out  a  devil.  It  was  enough  that  their 
leaders  should  have  this  grand  confirmation  of  their 
faith.  There  was  among  them,  henceforth,  a  secret 
fountain  of  encouragement  and  trust,  amid  the  darkest 


Mai-kix.  2-S.]  THE    TRANSFIGURATION. 


circumstances.  The  panic  in  which  all  forsook  Him 
might  have  been  final,  but  for  this  vision  of  His  glory. 
For  it  is  noteworthy  that  these  three  are  the  foremost 
afterwards  in  sincere  though  frail  devotion  :  one  offering 
to  die  with  Him,  and  the  others  desiring  to  drink  of 
His  cup  and  to  be  baptized  with  His  baptism. 

While  Jesus  prays  for  them,    He   is  Himself   made 
the  source  of  their  revival.      He  had  lately  promised 
that  they  who  willed  to  lose   their  life  should   find   it 
unto  life  eternal.     And  now,  in  Him  who  had  perfectly 
so  willed,  they  beheld  the  eternal  glory  beaming  forth, 
until  His  very  garments  were  steeped  in  light.     There 
is  no  need  of  proof  that  the  spirit  has  power  over^  the 
body  ;  the  question  is  only  of  degree.     Vile  passions 
can  permanently  degrade  human  comeliness.     And  there 
is  a  beauty  beyond  that  of  line  or  colour,  seen  in  vivid 
hours  of  emotion,   on  the  features  of  a  mother  beside 
her   sleeping   babe,   of  an  orator  when  his  soul  burns 
within  him,  of  a  martyr  when  his  face  is  as  the  face  of 
an  angel,  and  often  making  fairer  than  youthful  bloom 
the   ofd   age    that    has    suffered    long    and   been    kind. 
These  help  us,  however  faintly,  to  believe  that  there  is 
a  spiritual  body,  and  that  we  may  yet  bear  the  image 
of  the  heavenly.     And  so  once,  if  only  once,  it  is  given 
to  sinful  men  to  see  how  a  perfect  spirit  can  illuminate 
its  fleshly  tabernacle,   as  a  flame    illuminates    a  lamp, 
and    what    the    life    is    like    in    which    self-crucifixion 
issues.     In  this  hour  of  rapt  devotion  His  body  was 
steeped  in  the  splendour  which  was  natural  to  holiness, 
and  which  would  never  have  grown  dim  but  that  the 
great   sacrifice   had   still    to  be    carried   out   in   action. 
\Ve  shall  best  think  of  the    glorfes  of  transfiguration 
not  as   poured   over  Jesus,    but  as   a    revelation    from 
within.      Moreover,   while    they   gaze,   the    conquering 


232  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

chiefs  of  the  Old  Testament  approach  the  PJan  of 
Sorrows.  Because  the  spirit  of  the  liour  is  that  of 
self-devotion,  they  see  not  Abraham,  the  prosperous 
friend  of  God,  nor  Isaiah  whose  burning  words  befit 
the  lips  that  were  touched  by  fire  from  an  unearthly 
altar,  but  the  heroic  law-giver  and  the  lion-hearted  pro- 
phet, the  typical  champions  of  the  ancient  dispensation. 
Elijah  had  not  seen  death  ;  a  majestic  obscurity  veiled 
the  ashes  of  Moses  from  excess  of  honour;  yet  these 
were  not  offended  by  the  cross  which  tried  so  cruelly 
the  faith  of  the  apostles.  They  spoke  of  His  decease, 
and  their  word  seems  to  have  lingered  in  the  narrative 
as  strangely  appropriate  to  one  of  the  speakers  ;  it  is 
Christ's  "  exodus."  * 

But  St.  Mark  does  not  linger  over  this  detail,  nor 
mention  the  drowsiness  with  which  they  struggled  ;  he 
leans  all  the  weight  of  his  vivid  narrative  upon  one 
great  fact,  the  evidence  now  given  of  our  Lord's  abso- 
lute supremac3\ 

For,  at  this  juncture  Peter  interposed.  He  "  an- 
swered," a  phrase  which  points  to  his  consciousness  that 
he  was  no  unconcerned  bystander,  that  the  vision  was 
in  some  degree  addressed  to  him  and  his  companions. 
But  he  answers  at  random,  and  like  a  man  distraught. 
"  Lord,  it  is  good  for  us  to  be  here,"  as  if  it  were  not 
always  good  to  be  where  Jesus  led,  even  though  men 
should  bear  a  cross  to  follow  Him.  Intoxicated  by  the 
joy  of  seeing  the  King  in  His  beauty,  and  doubtless  b}' 
the  revulsion  of  new  hope  in  the  stead  of  his  dolorous 
forebodings,  he  proposes  to  linger  there.      He  will  have 

*  Once  besides  in  the  New  Testament  this  phrase  was  applied  to 
death.  That  was  by  St.  Peter  speaking  of  his  own,  wliea  the  thought 
of  the  transfiguration  was  floating  in  his  mind,  and  its  voices  lingered 
unconsciously  in  his  memory  (2  Pet.  i.  15,  of.  ver.  17).  The  phrase, 
though  not  unclassical,  is  not  common. 


]\Iaik  ix.  2-S.]  THE    TRANSflGURATION.  233 


more  than  is  granted,  just  as,  when  Jesus  washed  his 
feet,  he    said   "not  my  feet    only,  but   also  my  hands 
and  my  head."     And  if  this  might  be,  it  was  fitting  that 
these  superhuman  personages  should  have  tabernacles 
made  for  them.      No  doubt  the  assertion  that  he  wist 
not  what  to  say,  bears  specially  upon  this  strange  offer 
to    shelter  glorified  bodies  from  the  night  air,   and  to 
provide    for  each    a    place    of   separate    repose.      The 
words  are  incolicrent,   but  they  are  quite  natural  from 
one  who  has  so  impulsively  begun  to  speak  that  now 
he  must  talk  on,  because  he  knows  not  how  to  stop. 
They  are  the  words  of  the  very  Peter  whose  actions  we 
know  so  well.      As   he  formerly  vvalked  upon  the  sea, 
before  considering  how  boisterous  were  the  waves,  and 
would  soon  afterwards  smite  with  the  sword,  and  risk 
himself  in  the  High   Priest's  palace,  without  seeing  his 
w^ay  through  either    adventure,  exactly  so  in  this  be- 
wildering presence  he  ventures  into  a  sentence  without 
knowing  how  to  close  it. 

Now  this  perfect  accuracy  of  character,  so  dramatic 
and  yet  so  unaffected,  is  evidence  of  the  truth  of  this 
great  miracle.  To  a  frank  student  who  knows  human 
nature,  it  is  a  very  admirable  evidence.  To  one  who 
knows  how  clumsily  such  eftects  are  produced  by  all 
but  the  greatest  masters  of  creative  literature,  it  is 
almost  decisive. 

In  speaking  thus,  he  has  lowered  his  Master  to  the 
level  of  the  others,  unconscious  that  Moses  and  Elijah 
were  only  attendants  upon  Jesus,  w^ho  have  come  from 
heaven  because  He  is  upon  earth,  and  who  speak  not 
of  their  achievements  but  of  His  sufferings.  If  Peter 
knew  it,  the  hour  had  struck  when  their  work,  the  law  of 
Moses  and  the  utterances  of  the  prophets  whom  Elijah 
represented,  should    cease   to   be   the   chief  impulse  in, 


234  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

religion,  and  without  being  destroyed,  should  be  "  ful- 
filled," and  absorbed  in  a  new  system.  He  v/as  there 
to  whom  Moses  in  the  law,  and  the  prophets  bore 
witness,  and  in  His  presence  they  had  no  glory  by 
reason  of  the  glory  that  excelleth.  Yet  Peter  would 
fain  build  equal  tabernacles  for  all  alike. 

Now  St.  Luke  tells  us  that  he  interposed  just  when 
they  were  departing,  and  apparently  in  the  hope  of 
staying  them.  But  all  the  narratives  convey  a  strong 
impression  that  his  w^ords  hastened  their  disappear- 
ance, and  decided  the  manner  of  it.  ,For  while  he  yet 
spake,  as  if  all  the  vision  were  eclipsed  on  being  thus 
misunderstood,  a  cloud  swept  over  the  three — bright, 
yet  oversliadowing  them — and  the  voice  of  God  pro- 
claimed their  Lord  to  be  His  beloved  Son  (not  faithful 
only,  like  j\loses,  as  a  steward  over  the  house),  and 
bade  them,  instead  of  desiring  to  arrest  the  flight  of 
rival  teachers,  hear   Him. 

Too  often  Christian  souls  err  after  the  same  fashion. 
We  cling  to  authoritative  teachers,  familiar  ordhiances, 
and  traditional  views,  good  it  may  be,  and  even  divinely 
given,  as  if  the}'  were  not  intended  wholly  to  lead  us 
up  to  Christ.  And  in  many  a  spiritual  eclipse,  from 
many  a  cloud  which  the  heart  fears  to  enter,  the  great 
lesson  resounds  through  the  conscience  of  the  believer, 
Hear  Him  ! 

Did  the  words  remind  Peter  how  he  had  lately  begun 
to  rebuke  his  Lord  ?  Did  the  visible  glory,  the  minis- 
tration of  blessed  spirits  and  the  voice  of  God,  teach 
him  henceforth  to  hear  and  to  submit  ?  Alas,  he  could 
?gain  contradict  Jesus,  and  say  Thou  shalt  never  wash 
my  feet.  I  ne\er  v.ill  deny  Thee.  And  Ave,  who 
wcnccr  and  blame  him,  as  easily  forget  what  we  are 
taueht. 


Mark  ix.  9-13]     DESCENT  FROM    THE    MOUNT.  235 

Let  it  be  observed  that  the  miraculous  and  Divine 
Voice  reveals  nothing  new  to  them.  For  the  words, 
This  is  My  beloved  Son,  and  also  their  drift  in  raising 
Him  above  all  rivalry,  were  involved  in  the  recent 
confession  of  this  very  Peter  that  He  v/as  neither 
Elijah  nor  one  of  the  prophets,  but  the  Son  of  the 
Living  God.  So  true  is  it  that  we  may  receive  a  truth 
into  our  creed,  and  even  apprehend  it  with  such  vital 
faith  as  makes  us  "  blessed,"  long  before  it  grasps  and 
subdues  our  nature,  and  saturates  the  obscure  regions 
where  impulse  and  excitement  are  controlled.  What 
we  all  need  most  is  not  clearer  and  sounder  views,  but 
the  bringing  of  our  thoughts  into  subjection  to  the 
mind  of  Jesus. 

THE  DESCENT  FROM   TEIE  MOUNT. 

'*  And  as  they  were  coming  down  from  the  mountain,  He  charged 
them  that  they  should  tell  no  man  what  things  they  had  seen,  save 
when  the  Son  of  man  should  have  risen  again  from  the  dead.  And  they 
kept  the  saying,  questioning  among  themselves  what  the  rising  again 
from  the  dead  should  mean.  And  they  asked  Him,  saying,  The  scribes 
say  that  Elijah  must  first  come.  And  He  said  unto  them,  Elijah  indeed 
Cometh  first,  and  restoreth  all  things  :  and  how  is  it  written  of  the  Son 
of  man,  that  He  shoukl  suffer  many  things  and  be  set  at  nought  ?  But  I 
say  unto  you,  that  Elijah  is  come,  and  they  have  also  done  unlo  him 
whatsoever  they  listed,  even  as  it  is  written  of  Him." — iNlAiiK  ix.  9-13 
(R.V.). 

In  what  state  of  mind  did  the  apostles  return  from  be- 
holding the  glory  of  the  Lord,  and  His  ministers  from 
another  world  ?  They  seem  to  have  been  excited,  de- 
monstrative, ready  to  blaze  abroad  the  wonderful  event 
which  ought  to  put  an  end  to  all  men's  doubts. 

They  would  have  been  bitterly  disappointed,  if  they 
had  prematurely  exposed  their  experience  to  ridicule, 
cross-examination,  conjectural  theories,  and  all  the  con- 
troversy which  reduces  facts  to  logical  form,  but  strips 


236  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

them  of  their  freshness  and  vitahty.  -  In  the  first  age 
as  in  the  nineteenth,  it  was  possible  to  be  witnesses 
for  the  Lord  without  exposing  to  coarse  and  irreverent 
handhng  all  the  delicate  and  secret  experiences  of  the 
soul  with  Christ. 

Therefore  Jesus  charged  them  that  they  should  tell  no 
man.  Silence  would  force  back  the  impression  upon 
the  depths  of  their  own  spirits,  and  spread  its  roots 
under  the  surface  there. 

Nor  was  it  right  to  make  such  a  startling  demand 
upon  the  faith  of  others  before  public  evidence  had  been 
given,  enough  to  make  scepticism  blameworthy.  His 
resurrection  from  the  dead  would  suffice  to  unseal  their 
lips.  And  the  experience  of  all  the  Church  has  justi- 
fied that  decision.  The  resurrection  is,  in  fact,  the 
centre  of  all  the  miraculous  narratives,  the  sun  which 
keeps  them  in  their  orbit.  Some  of  them,  as  isolated 
events,  might  have  failed  to  challenge  credence.  But 
authority  and  sanction  are  given  to  all  the  rest  by  this 
great  and  publicly  attested  marvel,  which  has  modified 
history,  and  the  denial  of  which  makes  history  at  once 
untrustworthy  and  incoherent.  When  Jesus  rose  from 
the  dead,  the  whole  significance  of  His  life  and  its 
events  was  deepened. 

This  mention  of  the  resurrection  called  them  away 
from  pleasant  day-dreams,  by  reminding  them  that 
their  Master  was  to  die.  For  Him  there  was  no 
illusion.  Coming  back  from  the  light  and  voices  of 
heaven,  the  cross  before  Him  was  as  visible  as  ever 
to  His  undazzled  eyes,  and  He  was  still  the  sober  and 
vigilant  friend  to  warn  them  against  false  hopes.  They 
however  found  means  of  explaining  the  unwelcome 
truth  away.  Various  theories  were  discussed  among 
them,  what  the  rising  from  the  dead  should  mean,  what 


Mark  ix.  14-29-]         THE   DEMONIAC  BOY.  237 


should  be  in  fact  the  limit  to  their  silence.  This  very 
.perplexity,  and  the  chiU  upon  their  hopes,  aided  them 
to  keep  the  matter  close. 

One  hope  was  too  strong  not  to  be  at  least  hinted 
to  Jesus.  They  had  just  seen  Elias.  Surely  they  were 
right  in  expecting  his  interference,  as  the  scribes  had 
taught.  Instead  of  a  lonely  road  pursued  by  the  Mes- 
siah to  a  painful  death,  should  not  that  great  prophet 
come  as  a  forerunner  and  restore  all  things  ?  How 
then  Avas  murderous  opposition  possible  ? 

And  Jesus  answered  that  one  day  this  should  come  to 
pass.  The  herald  should  indeed  reconcile  all  hearts, 
before  the  great  and  notable  day  of  the  Lord  come. 
But  for  the  present  time  there  was  another  question. 
That  promise  to  which  they  clung,  was  it  their  only 
light  upon  futurity  ?  Was  not  the  assertion  quite  as 
plain  that  the  Son  of  Man  should  suffer  many  things 
and  be  set  at  nought  ?  So  far  was  Jesus  from  that 
state  of  mind  in  which  men  buoy  themselves  up  with 
false  hope.  No  apparent  prophecy,  no  splendid  vision, 
deceived  His  unerring  insight.  And  yet  no  despair 
arrested  His  energies  for  one  hour. 

But,  He  added,  Elias  had  already  been  offered  to 
this  generation  in  vain  ;  they  had  done  to  him  as  they 
listed.  They  had  re-enacted  what  history  recorded  of 
his  life  on  earth. 

Then  a  veil  dropped  from  the  disciples'  eyes.  They 
recognised  the  dweller  in  lonely  places,  the  man  of 
hairy  garment  and  ascetic  life,  persecuted  by  a  feeble 
tyrant  who  cowered  before  his  rebuke,  and  by  the 
deadlier  hatred  of  an  adulterous  queen.  They  saw  how 
the  very  name  of  Elias  raised  a  probability  that  the 
second  prophet  should  be  treated  "as  it  is  written  of" 
the  first. 


238  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

If  then  they  had  so  strangely  misjudged  the  prepara- 
tion of  Iiis  way,  what  miglit  they  not  apprehend  of  the 
issue  ?     So  should  also  the  Son  of  man  suffer  of  them. 

Do  we  wonder  that  they  had  not  hitherto  recognised 
the  prophet  ?  Perhaps,  when  all  is  made  clear  at  last, 
we  shall  wonder  more  at  our  own  refusals  of  reverence, 
our  blindness  to  the  meaning  of  noble  lives,  our  mode- 
rate and  qualified  respect  for  men  of  whom  the  world 
is  not  worthy. 

How  much  solid  greatness  would  some  of  us  over- 
look, if  it  went  with  an  unpolished  and  unattractive 
exterior  ?  Now  the  Baptist  Avas  a  rude  and  abrupt 
person,  of  little  culture,  unwelcome  in  kings'  houses. 
Yet  no  greater  had  been  born  of  woman. 

THE    DEMONIAC    BOY. 

"And  when  tliey  came  to  the  disciples,  they  saw  a  great  multitude 
about  them,  and  scribes  questioning  with  them.  And  straigluway  all 
the  multitude,  \\hen  they  saw  Him,  were  greatly  amazed,  and  running 
to  I-lim  saluted  Him.  And  He  asked  tliem.  What  question  ye  with 
tliem  ?  And  one  of  the  multitude  answered  Him,  Master,  I  brought 
unto  Thc;e  my  son,  which  hath  a  dumb  spirit  ;  and  wheresoever  it 
taketh  him,  it  dasheth  him  dou-n  :  and  he  loameth,  and  grindcth  his 
teeth,  and  pineth  away  :  and  I  spake  to  Thy  disciples  that  they  should 
cast  it  out  ;  and  they  were  not  able.  And  lie  answered  them  and  saith, 
O  faithless  generation,  how  long  siiall  I  be  with  you  ?  how  long  shall  I 
bear  with  you?  bring  him  unto  Me.  And  they  brought  him  unto  Him  : 
and  when  He  saw  him,  straightway  the  spirit  tare  him  grievously;  and 
he  fell  on  the  ground,  and  wallowed  foaming.  And  He  asked  his 
father.  How  long  time  is  it  since  this  hath  come  unto  him  ?  And  he 
said,  From  a  child.  And  oft-times  it  hath  cast  him  both  into  the  fire 
and  into  the  waters,  to  destroy  him  :  but  if  Thou  canst  do  anytliing, 
have  compassion  on  us,  and  help  us.  And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  If 
thou  canst !  All  things  are  possible  to  him  that  believeth.  Straight  A'ay 
the  falher  of  the  child  cried  out,  and  .'-aid,  I  believe  ;  help  Thou  mine 
unbelief.  And  when  Jesus  saw  that  a  multitude  came  running  together, 
He  rebuked  the  unclean  spirit,  saying  unto  him.  Thou  dumb  and  deaf 
spirit,  1  command  thee,  come  out  of  him,  and  enter  no  more  into  him. 


M;rl:ix.  14-27-]         THE  DEMON  [AC  BOY.  239 

And  li  ;ving  cried  out,  and  torn  liim  much,  he  came  out  :  and  ilic  child 
became  as  one  deid  ;  in^onlucll  that  the  more  part  said,  He  is  dead. 
But  Jesus  toiik  Him  by  the  hind,  and  raised  him  up;  and  he  arose. 
And  when  Pie  was  come  into  the  house,  His  disciples  asked  Him 
prisaiel)-,  sayi"i,^,  ^^'e  could  not  cast  it  out.  And  He  said  unto  them, 
This  kind  can  come  out  by  nothing,  save  by  prayer." — Mark  ix. 
14-29  (R.V.). 

Peter  soon  had  striking  evidence  that  it  would  not 
have  been  "good"  for  them  to  linger  too  long  upon  the 
mountain.  And  our  Lord  was  recalled  with  painful 
abruptness  from  the  glories  of  transfiguration  to  the 
scepticism  of  scribes,  the  failure  and  shame  of  disciples, 
and  the   triumph  of  the   powers  of  evil. 

To  the  Twelve  He  had  explicitly  given  authority  over 
devils,  and  even  the  Seventy,  venturing  by  faith  to  cast 
them  out,  had  told  Him  of  their  success  with  joy.  But 
now,  in  the  sorrow  and  fear  of  these  latter  days,  de- 
prived of  their  Master  and  of  their  own  foremost  three, 
oppressed  with  gloomy  forebodings,  and  infected  with 
the  worldliness  v/hich  fails  to  pray,  the  nine  had  striven 
in  vain.  It  is  the  only  distinct  repulse  recorded,  and 
the  scribes  attacked  them  keenly.  Where  was  their 
Master  at  this  crisis  ?  Did  not  they  profess  equally 
to  have  the  necessary  power  ?  Here  was  a  test,  and 
some  failed,  and  the  others  did  not  present  themselves. 
We  can  imagine  the  miserable  scene,  contrasting 
piteously  with  what  passed  on  the  summit  of  the  hill. 
And  in  the  centre  was  an  agonized  father  and  a  tor- 
tured lad. 

At  this  moment  the  cro^vds,  profoundly  moved, 
rushed  to  meet  the  Lord,  and  on  seeing  Him,  became 
aware  that  failure  was  at  an  end.  Perhaps  the  ex- 
ceeding brightness  lingered  still  upon  His  face;  perhaps 
it  was  but  the  unearthly  and  victorious  calm  of  His 
consecration,  visible  in   His  mien  ;    what  is  certain  is 


240  GOSPEL    OB   S7.    MARK. 

that  they  were  greatly  amazed,  and  ran  to  Kim  and  did 
homage. 

Jesus  at  once  challenged  a  renewal  of  the  attack 
which  had  been  too  much  for  His  apostles.  "  What 
question  ye  with  them  ?  "  But  awe  has  fallen  upon  the 
scribes  also,  and  misery  is  left  to  tell  its  own  tale. 
Their  attack  by  preference  upon  the  disciples  is  very 
natural,  and  it  by  no  means  stands  alone.  They  did 
not  ask  Him,  but  His  followers,  why  He  ate  and  drank 
with  sinners,  nor  whether  He  paid  the  half-shekel 
(JVIark  ii.  i6;  Matt.  xvii.  24).  When  they  did  complain 
to  the  Master  Himself,  it  was  commonly  of  some  fault 
in  His  disciples :  Why  do  Thy  disciples  fast  not  ? 
Why  they  do  on  the  Sabbath  day  that  which  is  not 
lawful  ?  Why  do  they  eat  with  defiled  hands  ?  (Mark 
ii.  18,  24;  vii.  5).  Their  censures  of  Himself  were 
usually  muttered  or  silent  murmurings,  which  He  dis- 
cerned, as  when  He  forgave  the  sins  of  the  palsied  man  ; 
when  the  Pharisee  marvelled  that  He  had  not  waslied 
His  hands ;  when  He  accepted  the  homage  of  the 
sinful  woman,  and  again  when  He  spoke  her  pardon 
(Mark  ii.  8;  Luke  xi.  38;  vii.  39-49).  When  He  healed 
the  Vv'oman  whom  a  spn^it  of  infirmity  had  bent  down 
for  eighteen  years,  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue  spoke  to 
the  people,  without  venturing  to  address  Jesus.  (Luke 
xiii.  14). 

It  is  important  to  observe  such  indications,  unob- 
trusive, and  related  by  various  evangelists,  of  the 
majesty  and  impressiveness  which  surrounded  our 
Lord,  and  awed  even  His  bitter  foes. 

The  silence  is  broken  by  an  unhappy  father,  who  had 
been  the  centre  of  the  group,  but  whom  the  abrupt  move- 
ment to  meet  Jesus  has  merged  in  the  crowd  again. 
The  case  of  his  son  is  among  those  which  prove  that 


Markix.  14-37.]         TH^^    DEMONIAC   BOY^ ^^i 

-^^^^^^^^r;^^^^^  the  e-eptional  suiU 

of  .ts  victin.s,  for  though  still  3'oung,  he  has  suli.  d 
Ion-  The  demon  which  afflicts  him  is  dumb  ;  it  v  orks 
i;  ^i^e  .uise  of  epilepsy,  and  as  a  disease  it  is  ahected 
by  the^hanges  of  the  moon;  a  malicious  design  is 
visible  in  frequent  falls  into  fire  and  water,  to  ciestroy 
him  The  father  had  sought  Jesus  with  him,  and  since 
He 'was  absent  had  appealed  to  His  followers,  but  in 
vain  Some  consequent  injury  to  his  own  faith  cleai  ly 
implied  in  what  follows,  may  possibly  be  detected 
already,  in  the  absence  of  any  further  petition,  and  in 
the  cold  epithet,  "  Teacher,"  which  he  employs. 

Even  as  an  evidence  the  answer  of  Jesus  is  remark- 
able, being  such  as  human  ingenuity  would  not  have 
invented,  nor  the  legendary  spirit  have  conceived.  It 
would  have  seemed  natural  that  He  shoud  hasten  to 
vindicate  His  claims  and  expose  the  folly  of  the  scribes 
or  else  have  reproached  His  followers  for  the  failure 
which  had  compromised  Him. 

But  the  scribes  were  entirely  set  aside  from  the 
moment  when  the  Good  Physician  was  invoked  by  a 
bleeding  heart.  Yet  the  physical  trouble  is  dealt  with 
deliberately,  not  in  haste,  as  by  one  -hose  mastery  is 
assured.  The  passing  shadow  which  has  fallen  on  Hi. 
cause  only  concerns  Him  as  a  part  of  the  heavy  spi- 
ritual burden  which  oppresses  Him,  which  this  terrible 
scene  so  vividly  exhibits.  ,     .     ,,  •      ,1    . 

For  the  true  importance  of  His  words  is  this,  that 
they  reveal  sufferings  which  are  too  often  forgotten,  and 
which  few  are  pure  enough  even  to  comprehend.  _  1  he 
prevalent  evil  weighed  upon  Him.  And  here  tne  visible 
power  of  Satan,  the  hostility  of  the  scribes,  the  failure 
of  His  own,  the  suspense  and  agitation  of  the  crowd 
all  breathed  the  spirit  of  that  evil  age,  alien  and  narsh 

10 


242  GOSPEL   OF  ST.    MARK. 

to  Him  as  an  infected  atmosphere.  He  blames  none 
more  than  others  ;  it  is  the  "  generation/'  so  faithless 
and  perversp^  which  forces  Him  to  exclaim:  "  How  long- 
shall  I  be  with  you  ?  how  long  shall  I  bear  with  you  ?" 
It  is  the  cry  of  the  pain  of  Jesus.  It  bids  us  to  con- 
sider Him  Who  endured  such  contradiction  of  sinners, 
who  were  even  sinners  against  Himself  So  that  the 
distress  of  Jesus  was  not  that  of  a  mere  eye-witness 
of  evil  or  sufferer  by  it.  His  priesthood  established  a 
closer  and  more  agonizing  connection  between  our  Lord 
and  the  sins  which  tortured  Him. 

Do  the  words  startle  us,  with  the  suggestion  of  a 
limit  to  the  forbearance  of  Jesus,  well-nigh  reached? 
There  ivas  such  a  limit.  The  work  of  His  messenger 
had  been  required,  lest  His  coming  should  be  to  smite 
the  world.  His  mind  was  the  mind  of  God,  and  it 
is  written,  Kiss  the  Son,  lest  He  be  angry. 

Now  if  Jesus  looked  forward  to  shame  and  anguish 
with  natural  shrinking,  we  here  perceive  another  aspect 
in  which  His  coming  Baptism  of  Blood  was  viewed, 
and  we  discover  why  He  was  straitened  until  it  was 
accomplished.  There  is  an  intimate  connection  between 
this  verse  and  His  saying  in  St.  John,  "  If  ye  loved  Me, 
ye  would  rejoice,  because  I  go  unto  My  Father," 

But  swiftly  the  mind  of  Jesus  recurs  to  the  misery 
which  awaits  help  ;  and  He  bids  them  bring  the  child 
to  Him.  Now  the  sweet  influence  of  His  presence 
would  have  soothed  and  mitigated  any  mere  disease.  It 
is  to  such  influence  that  sceptical  writers  are  wont  to 
turn  for  an  explanation,  such  as  it  is,  of  the  works  He 
wrought.  But  it  was  the  reverse  in  cases  of  possession. 
There  a  wild  sense  of  antagonism  and  revolt  was  wont 
to  show  itself.  And  we  might  learn  that  this  was  some- 
thing more  than  epilepsy,   even   were  it   left  doubtful 


I.,:aikix.  14-27.]  TFIE    DEMONIAC   BOY.  243 

ot  crwise,  by  the  outburst  of  Satanic  rage.  When  he 
saw  Him,  straightway  the  spirit  convulsed  him  griev- 
ously, and  he  fell  wallowing  and  foaming. 

Yet  Jesus  is  neithier  hurried  nor  agitated.  In  not 
one  of  Plis  miracles  does  precipitation,  or  mere  impulse, 
mingle  with  His  grave  and  self-contained  compassion. 
He  will  question  the  scribes  while  the  man  with  a 
withered  hand  awaits  His  help.  He  will  rebuke  the 
disciples  before  quelling  the  storm.  At  Nain  He  will 
touch  the  bier  and  arrest  the  bearers.  When  He  feeds 
the  multitude,  He  will  first  coriimand  a  search  for  loaves. 
Pie  will  stand  still  and  call  Bartimaeus  to  Him.  He 
will  evol;e,  even  by  seeming  harshness,  the  faith  of  the 
woman  of  Canaan.  He  will  have  the  stone  rolled  aw^ay 
from  the  sepulchre  of  Lazarus.  When  He  Himself 
rises,  the  grave-clothes  are  found  folded  up,  and  the 
napkin  which  bound  tlis  head  laid  in  a  place  by  itself, 
the  last  tribute  of  mortals  to  His  mortality  not  being 
flung  contemptuously  aside.  All  His  miracles  are 
authenticated  by  the  stamp  of  the  same  character — 
stiene,  not  in  haste  nor  tardy,  since  He  saw  the  end 
from  the  beginning.  In  this  case  delay  is  necessary,  to 
arouse  the  father,  if  only  by  interrogation,  from  his  dull 
disappointment  and  hopelessness.  Pie  asks  therefore 
"How  long  time  is  it  since  this  came  upon  him  ?"  and  the 
answer  shows  that  he  was  now  at  least  a  stripling,  for  he 
had  suffered  ever  since  he  was  a  child.  Then  the  un- 
happy man  is  swept  away  by  his  emotions  :  as  he  tells 
their  sorrows,  and  thinks  what  a  wretclred  life  or  miser- 
able death  lies  before  his  son,  he  bursts  into  a  pas- 
sionate appeal.  If  Thou  canst  do  anything,  do  this. 
Let  pity  for  such  misery,  for  the  miser}^  of  father  as 
well  as  child,  evoke  all  Thy  power  to  save.  The  form 
is-  more  disrespectful  than  the  substauce  of  his  cry  ;  its 


244  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 


very  vehemence  is  evidence  that  some  hope  is  working 
in  liis  breast  ;  and  there  is  more  real  trust  in  its 
wild  urgency  than  in  many  a  reverential  and  carefully 
weigh.ed  prayer. 

Yet  h.ov/  miiich  rashness,  self-assertion,  and  wilful- 
ness (which  is  really  unbelief)  were  mingled  with  his 
germinant  faith  and  needed  rebuke.  Therefore  Christ 
responded  with  his  own  word  :  "  If  thoii,  canst  :  thou 
sayest  it  to  Me,  but  I  retort  the  condition  upon  tliyself : 
with  thee  are  indeed  the  issues  of  thine  o\nxv  application, 
for  all  things  are  possible  to  him  that  believeth." 

This  answer  is  in  two  respects  important.  There 
was  a  time  when  popular  religion  dealt  too  much  with 
internal  experience  and  attainment.  But  perhaps  there 
are  schools  among  us  now  which  verge  upon  the  op- 
posite extreme.  Faith  and  love  are  generally  strongest 
when  they  forget  themselves,  and  do  not  say  "  I  am 
faithful  and  loving,"  but  ''  Christ  is  trustworthy,  Christ 
is  adorable."  This  is  true,  and  th.ese  virtues  are  be- 
coming artificial,  and  so  false,  as  soon  as  they  grow 
self-complacent.  Yet  we  should  give  at  least  enough 
attention  to  our  own  attainments  to  warn  us  of  our 
deficiencies.  And  wherever  we  find  a  v;ant  of  blessed- 
ness, we  may  seek  for  the  reason  within  ourselves. 
Many  a  one  is  led  to  doubt  whether  Christ  "  can  do 
anything"  practical  for  him,  since  private  prayer  and 
public  ordinances  help  him  little,  and  his  temptations 
continue  to  prevail,  whose  true  need  is  to  be  roused 
up  sharp]}'  to  the  consciousness  that  it  is  not  Christ 
who  has  failed  ;  it  is  he  himself :  his  faith  is  dim,  his 
grasp  on  his  Lord  is  half  hearted  he  is  straitened  in 
his  own  affections.  Our  personal  experiences  should 
never  teach  us  confidence,  but  they  may  often  serve 
to  humble  and  warn  us. 


Mark  ix.  14-27.]  THE   DEI\[OMAC   BOY.  245 

This  answer  also  impresses  upon  us  the  dignity  of 
Him  "who  speaks.  Failure  had  already  come  through 
tlie  spiritual  defects  of  His  disciples,  but  for  Him,  tliough 
"  m^eek  and  lowly  of  heart/'  no  such  danger  is  even 
contemplated.  No  appeal  to  Him  can  be  frustrated 
except  through  fault  of  the  suppliant,  since  all  things  are 
possible  to  him  that  believeth. 

Now  faith  is  in  itself  nothing,  and  may  even  be  per- 
nicious ;  all  its  effect  depends  upon  the  object.  Trust 
reposed  in  a  friend  avails  or  misleads  according  to  his 
love  and  his  resources  ;  trust  in  a  traitor  is  ruinous, 
and  ruinous  in  proportion  to  its  energy.  And  since 
trust  in  Jesus  is  omnipotent,  Who  and  what  is  He  ? 

The  word  pierces  like  a  two-edged  sword,  and  reveals  to 
the  agitated  father  the  conflict,  the  impurit}'  of  his  heart. 
Unbelief  is  there,  and  of  liimself  he  cannot  conquer 
it.  Yet  is  lie  not  entirely  unbelieving,  else  what  drew 
him  thitk.cr  ?  What  impulse  led  to  that  passionate 
recital  of  his  griefs,  that  over-daring  cry  of  anguish  ? 
And  v/hat  is  now  this  burning  sense  within  him  of 
a  great  and  inspiring  Presence,  which  urges  him  to 
a  bolder  appeal  for  a  miracle  yet  more  spiritual  and 
Divine,  a  cry  well  directed  to  the  Author  and  Finisher 
of  cur  faith  ?  Never  vvas  medicine  better  justified  by 
its  operation  upon  disease,  than  the  treatment  which 
converted  a  too-importunate  clamour  for  bodily  relief 
into  a  contrite  prayer  for  grace.  "  I  believe,  help  Thou 
mine  unbelief"  The  same  sense  of  mixed  imperfect  and 
yet  real  trust  should  exist  in  every  one  of  us,  or  else  our 
belief  being  perfect  should  be  irresistible  in  the  moral 
sphere,  and  in  the  pln^sical  world  so  resigned,  so  con- 
fident in  the  Love  which  governs,  as  never  to  be  con- 
scious of  any  gnauing  in^portunate  desire.  And  from  the 
same  sense  of  need,  the  same  cry  for  help  should  spring. 


246  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

Miraculous  legends  have  gathered  around  the  lives 
of  many  good  and  gracious  men  within  Christendom 
and  outside  it.  But  they  cannot  claim  to  vreigh 
against  the  history  of  Jesus,  until  at  least  one  example 
can  be  produced  of  such  direct  spiritual  action,  so  pro- 
found, penetrating  and  effectual,  inextricably  interwoven 
in  the  tissue  of  any  fable. 

All  this  time  the  agitation  of  the  people  had  in- 
creased. i\  multitude  was  rushing  forvv'ard,  wliose 
excitement  would  do  more  to  distract  the  father's  mind 
than  further  delay  to  help  him.  And  Jesus,  even  in 
the  midst  of  His  treatment  of  souls,  was  not  blind  to 
such  practical  considerations,  or  to  the  influence  of 
circunistances.  Unlike  modern  dealers  in  sensation, 
He  can  never  be  shown  to  have  aimed  at  religious 
excitement,  while  it  was  His  custom  to  discourage  it. 
Therefore  He  nov/  rebuked  the  unclean  spirit  in  the  lad, 
addressing  it  directl}'  speaking  as  a  superior.  "Thou 
deaf  and  dumb  spirit,  I  command  thee,  come  out  of 
him,"  and  adding,  with  explicitness  which  was  due  per- 
haps to  the  obstinate  ferocity  of  "  this  kind,"  or  perhaps 
was  intended  to  help  the  father's  lingering  unbelief, 
"enter  no  more  into  him."  The  evil  being  obeys,  yet 
proves  his  reluctance  by  screaming  and  convulsing  his 
victim  for  the  last  time,  so  that  he,  though  healed, 
lies  utterly  prostrate,  and  "  the  more  part  said.  He  is 
dead."  It  v.as  a  fearful  exhibition  of  the  disappointed 
malice  of  the  pit.  But  it  only  calls  forth  another  display 
of  the  power  and  love  of  Jesus,  Who  will  not  leave  the 
sufferer  to  a  gradual  recovery,  nor  speak,  as  to  the 
fiend,  in  words  of  mere  authorit}'',  but  reaches  ibrth 
His  benign  hand,  and  raises  him,  restored.  Here  Vv-e 
discover  the  same  heart  which  provided  that  the 
daughter  of  Jairus  should  have  food,  and  delivered  her 


Mark  ix.  28-37]    J£SUS  AND    THE   DISCIPLES.  247 

son  to  the  widow  of  Nain,  and  was  first  to  remind 
others  that  Lazarus  was  encumbered  by  his  grave- 
clothes.  The  good  works  of  Jesus  were  not  melodram- 
atic marvels  for  stage  effect :  they  were  the  natural 
acts  of  supernatural  power  and  love. 

JESUS  AND   THE  DISCIPLES. 

"And  when  He  was  come  into  the  house,  His  disciples  asked  Hini 
privately,  saying,  We  coukl  not  cast  it  out.  And  He  said  unto  tliem, 
This  kind  can  come  out  by  nothing,  save  by  prayer.  And  they  went 
forth  from  thence,  and  passed  through  Galilee  ;  and  He  would  not  that 
any  man  should  know  it.  For  He  taught  His  disciples,  and  said  unto 
.  them,  The  Son  of  man  is  delivered  up  into  the  hands  of  men,  and  they 
Ijshall  kill  Him  ;  and  when  He  is  killed,  after  three  days  He  shall  rise 
again.  But  they  understood  not  the  saying,  and  were  afraid  to  ask 
Him.  And  they  came  to  Capernaum  :  and  when  He  was  in  the  house 
He  asked  them.  What  were  ye  reasoning  in  the  way?  But  they  held 
their  peace  :  for  they  had  disputed  one  with  another  in  the  way.  who 
was  the  greatest.  And  He  sat  down,  and  called  the  twelve  ;  and  He 
saith  unto  them.  If  any  man  would  be  firU,  he  shall  be  last  of  all,  and 
minister  of  all.  And  He  took  a  little  child,  and  set  him  in  the  midst 
of  them  :  and  taking  him  in  Plis  arms,  He  said  unto  them,  Whosoever 
shill  receive  one  of  such  little  children  in  My  name,  receiveth  Me  ;  and 

whosoever  receiveth  Me,    receiveth  not  Me  but   Him   that  sent  i\le." 

Mariv  i.\.  28-37  (R.V.). 

When  the  apostles  had  failed  to  expel  the  demon  from 
the  child,  they  gave  a  very  natural  expression  to  their 
disappointment.  Waiting  until  Jesus  was  in  private 
and  in  the  house,  they  said,  "  We  for  our  parts  were 
unable  to  cast  it  out."  They  take  no  blame  to  them- 
selves. The  tone  is  rather  of  perplexity  and  complaint 
because  the  commission  formerly  received  had  not  held 
good.  And  it  implies  the  question  which  is  plainly 
expressed  by  St.  Matthew,  Why  could  v/e  not  cast  it 
out  ?  Their  very  unconsciousness  of  personal  blame 
is  oniinous,  and  Jesus  replies  that  the  fault  is  entirely 
their  own.     They  ought  to  have  stimulated,  as   He  did 


248  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

afterwards,  what  was  flagging  but  not  absent  in  the 
father,  what  their  failure  must  have  daunted  llirther  in 
him.  Want  of  faith  had  overcome  them,  says  the 
fuller  account  :  the  brief  statement  in  St.  Mark  is,  "  This 
kind  (of  demon)  can  come  out  by  nothing  but  by 
pra^'er"  ;  to  which  fasting  was  added  as  a  second  con- 
dition by  ancient  copyists,  but  without  authority.  What 
is  important  is  to  observe  the  connection  between  faith 
and  prayer ;  so  that  while  the  devil  would  only  have 
gone  out  if  they  had  prayed,  or  even  perhaps  only  if 
they  had  been  men  of  prayer,  yet  their  failure  was 
through  unbelief.  It  plainly  follows  that  prayer  is  the 
nurse  of  faith,  and  would  have  strengthened  it  so  that 
it  should  prevail.  Only  in  habitual  communion  udth 
God  can  we  learn  to  trust  Him  aright.  There,  as  we 
feel  His  nearness,  as  we  are  reminded  that  He  bends 
to  hear  our  cry,  as  the  sense  of  eternal  and  perfect 
power  blends  with  that  of  immieasurable  love,  and  His 
sympathy  becomes  a  realized  abiding  fact,  as  our  vain- 
glory is  rebuked  by  confessions  of  sin,  and  of  depend- 
ence, it  is  made  possible  for  man  to  wield  the  forces  of 
the  spiritual  world  and  yet  not  to  be  intoxicated  with 
pride.  The  nearness  of  God  is  inconsistent  with 
boastfulness  of  man.  For  want  of  this,  it  was  better 
that  the  apostles  should  fail  and  be  humbled,  than 
succeed  and  be  pulled  up. 

There  are  promises  still  unenjoyed,  dormant  and 
unexercised  powers  at  the  disposal  of  the  Church 
to-day.  If  in  many  Christian  families  the  children  are 
not  practically  holy,  if  purity  and  consecration  are  not 
leavening  our  Christian  land,  where  after  so  many 
cerituries  license  is  but  little  abashed  and  the  faith 
of  Jesus  is  still  disputed,  if  the  heathen  are  not  yet 
given    for   our    Lord's    inheritance   nor    the    uttermost 


Mark  ix.  28-37-]     lESUS  AND    THE   DISCIPLES.  249 


parts  of  the  eartli  (or  I-Jis  possession — \vhy  are  we 
unable  to  cast  out  the  devils  that  afilict  our  race  ?  It 
is  because  our  efibrts  are  so  faithless.  And  this  again 
is  because  they  are  not  inspired  and  elevated  by 
sufficient  communion  with  our  God  in  prayer. 

Further  evidences  continued  to  be  given  of  the 
dangerous  state  of  the  mind  of  His  followers,  weighed 
down  by  eartlily  hopes  and  fears,  wanting  in  faith  and 
prayer,  and  therefore  open  to  the  sinister  influences 
of  the  thief  who  was  soon  to  become  the  traitor. 
They  were  now  moving  for  the  last  time  through 
Galilee.  It  was  a  different  procession  from  those  glad 
circuits,  not  long  before,  when  enthusiasm  everywhere 
rose  high,  and  sometimes  the  people  would  have 
crowned  Him.  Now  He  v/ould  not  that  any  man 
should  knov/  it.  The  word  which  tells  of  His  journey 
seems  to  imply  that  He  avoided  the  main  thorough- 
fares, and  went  by  less  fi'equented  by-ways.  Partly 
no  doubt  His  motives  were  prudential,  resulting  from 
the  treachery  which  He  discerned.  Partly  it  was 
because  His  own  spirit  was  heavily  weighed  upon, 
and  retirement  was  what  He  needed  most.  And 
certainly  most  of  all  because  crowds  and  tumult  would 
have  utterly  unfitted  the  apostles  to  learn  the  hard 
lesson,  how  vain  their  daydreams  were,  and  what  a 
trial  lay  before  their  Master. 

We  read  that  "He  taught  them"  this,  wliich  implies 
more  than  a  single  utterance,  as  also  perhaps  does  the 
remarkable  phrase  in  St.  Luke,  "Let  these  sayings  sink 
into  your  ears."  When  the  v.-arning  is  examined,  v.^e 
find  it  almost  a  repetition  of  what  they  had  heard  a^er 
Peter's  great  confession.  Then  they  had  apparently 
supposed  the  cross  of  their  Lord  to  be  such  a  figurative 
one  as  all  His  followers  have  to  bear.     Even  after  the 


250  GOSPEL    OF  SI     MARK. 


Transfiguration,  the  chosen  tliree  had  searched  for  a 
meaning  for  the  resurrection  from  the  dead.  But  now, 
when  the  words  were  repeated  witli  a  naked,  crude, 
resolute  distinctness,  marvellous  from  the  lips  of  Hiai 
Who  should  endure  the  realit}',  and  evidently  chosen  in 
order  to  beat  down  their  lingering  evasive  hopes,  when 
He  says  "  They  shall  kill  Him,  and  when  He  is  killed, 
after  three  days  He  shall  rise  again,"  surely  they  ought 
to  have  understood. 

In  fact  they  comprel.ended  enough  to  shrink  from 
hearing  more.  They  did  not  dare  to  lift  the  veil  which 
covered  a  mystery  so  dreadful  ;  they  feared  to  ask 
Him.  It  is  a  natural  impulse,  not  to  know  the  worst. 
Insolvent  tradesmen  leave  their  books  unbalanced.  The 
course  of  history  would  have  run  in  another  channel, 
if  the  great  Napoleon  had  looked  in  the  face  the  need 
to  foitify  his  own  capital  wlnle  plundering  others.  No 
wonder  that  these  Galileans  recoiled  from  searching 
what  was  the  calamity  which  weighed  so  heavily  upon 
the  mighty  spirit  of  their  Master.  Do  not  men  stifle 
the  voice  of  conscience,  and  refuse  to  examine  them- 
selves whether  they  are  in  the  faith,  in  the  same  abject 
dread  of  knowing  the  facts,  and  looking  the  inevitable 
in  the  face  ?  How  few  there  arc,  who  bear  to  think, 
calmly  and  well,  of  the  certainties  of  death  and  judg- 
ment ? 

But  at  the  appointed  time,  the  inevitable  arrived  for 
the  disciples.  The  only  effect  of  their  moral  cowardice 
was  that  it  found  them  unready,  surprised  and  there- 
fore fearful,  and  still  worse,  prepared  to  f^^irsake  Jlsus 
by  having  already  in  heart  drawn  away  from  Him,  by 
having  refused  to  comprehend  and  s'.;are  His  sorrows. 
It  is  easy  to  blame  them,  to  assume  that  in  their  place 
we  should  not  have  been  partakers  in  their  evil  deeds, 


Mark  ix.  28-37-]    /ESUS  AND    THE   DISCIPLES.  251 

to  make  little  of  the  chosen  foundation  stones  upon 
wliich  Christ  would  build  His  New  Jerusalem.  But 
in  so  doing"  we  forfeit  the  sobering  lessons  of  their 
weakness,  who  failed,  not  because  they  were  less  than 
we,  but  because  they  weie  not  more  than  mortal.  And 
we  who  censure  them  are  perhaps  indolently  refusing 
day  by  day  to  reflect,  to  comprehend  the  meaning  of 
our  own  lives  and  of  their  teiidencies,  to  realize  a 
thousand  warnings,  less  terrible  only  because  they  con- 
tinue to  be  conditional,  but  claiming  more  attention  for 
that  very  reason. 

Contrast  with  their  hesitation  the  noble  fortitude 
with  which  Christ  faced  His  agony.  It  was  His,  and 
their  concern  in  it  was  secondary.  Yet  for  their  sakes 
He  bore  to  speak  of  v/hat  they  could  not  bear  to  hear. 
Therefore  to  Him  there  came  no  surprise,  no  sudden 
shock  ;  His  arrest  found  Him  calm  and  reassured  after 
the  conflict  in  the  Garden,  and  after  all  the  preparation 
which  had  already  gone  forward  through  all  these 
latter  days. 

One  only  ingredient  in  His  cup  of  bitterness  is  now 
added  to  those  which  had  been  already  mentioned  : 
"  The  Son  of  man  is  delivered  up  into  the  hands  of 
men."  And  this  is  tlie  same  which  He  mentioned  in  the 
Garden  :  "  The  Son  of  man  is  betrayed  into  the  hands 
of  sinners." 

It  was  thiat  from  w'hich  David  recoiled  when  he  said, 
"  Let  me  fall  into  the  hands  of  God,  but  let  me  not  fail 
into  the  hands  of  men."  Suffering  has  not  reached  its 
height  until  conscious  malice  designs  the  pang,  and 
says,  "  So  would  we  have  it."  Especially  true  wai 
this  of  the  most  tender  of  all  hearts.  Yet  this  also 
Jesus  foreknew,  while  He  stCadia^itly  set  His  face  to  go 
toward  Jerusalem. 


252  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

Faithless  inability  to  grapple  with  the  powers  of 
darkness,  faithless  unreadiness  to  share  the  cross  of 
Jesus,  what  was  to  be  expected  next  ?  Estrangement, 
jealousy  and  ambition,  the  passions  of  the  world  heaving 
in  the  bosom  of  tlie  Church.  But  while  they  fail  to 
discern  the  spirit  of  Judas,  the  Lord  discerned  theirs, 
and  asked  them  in  the  house,  What  were  ye  reasoning 
in  the  way  ?  It  was  a  sweet  and  gentle  prudence, 
which  had  not  corrected  them  publicly  nor  while  their 
tempers  were  still  ruffled,  nor  in  the  language  of  severe 
rebuke,  for  by  the  way  they  had  not  only  reasoned  but 
disputed  one  v,"ith  another,  who  was  the  greatest. 

Language  of  especial  honour  had  been  addressed  to 
Peter.  Three  had  become  possessed  of  a  remarkable 
secret  on  the  Holy  Mount,  concerning  which  hints  on 
one  side,  and  surmises  on  the  other,  may  easily  have 
excited  jealousy.  The  failure  of  the  nine  to  cast  out  the 
devil  would  also,  as  they  were  not  humbled,  render 
them  irritable  and  self-asserting. 

But  they  held  their  peace.  No  one  asserted  his 
right  to  answer  on  behalf  of  all.  Peter,  who  was  so 
willingly  their  spokesman  at  other  times,  did  not  vindicate 
his  boasted  pre-eminence  now.  The  claim  which  seemed 
so  reasonable  while  they  forgot  Jesus,  was  a  thing  to 
blush  for  in  His  presence.  And  they,  who  feared  to 
ask  Llim  of  His  own  sufferings,  knew  enough  to  feel  the 
contrast  between  their  temper,  their  thoughts  and  His. 
Would  that  we  too  by  prayer  and  self-examination, 
more  often  brought  our  desires  and  ambitions  into  the 
searching  light   of  the   presence  of  the  lowly   King  of 

Tl',e  calmness  of  their  Lord  was  in  strange  contrast 
with  their  confusion.  He  pressed  no  furtiicr  Mis 
inquiry,  but  left  them  to  weigh  His  silence  in  this  respect 


Markix.  3S-50.]  OFFENCES.  253 

against  their  own.  But  importing  by  His  action  some- 
tining  deliberate  and  grave,  He  sat  down  and  called  the 
Twelve,  and  pronounced  the  great  law  of  Christian 
rank,  which  is  lowliness  and  the  lowliest  service.  '*  If 
any  man  would  be  the  first,  he  shall  be  the  least  of  all, 
and  the  servant  of  all."  When  Kaisers  and  Popes 
ostentatiously  wash  the  feet  of  paupers,  they  do  not 
really  serve,  and  therefore  the}'  exhibit  no  genuine 
lowliness.  Christ  does  not  speak  of  the  luxurious 
nursing  of  a  sentiment,  but  of  that  genuine  humility 
which  effaces  itself  that  it  may  really  become  a  servant 
of  the  rest.  Nor  does  He  prescribe  this  as  a  penance, 
but  as  the  appointed  way  to  emiinence.  Something 
similar  He  had  already  spoken,  bidding  men  sit  down 
in  the  lowest  room,  that  the  Master  of  the  house  might 
call  them  higher.  But  it  is  in  the  next  chapter,  when 
despite  this  lesson  the  sons  of  Zebedee  persisted  in 
claiming  the  highest  places,  and  the  indignation  of  the 
rest  betrayed  the  very  passion  it  resented,  that  Jesus 
fully  explains  how  lowly  service,  that  wholesome 
medicine  for  ambition,  is  the  essence  of  the  very  great- 
ness in  pursuit  of  which  men  spurn  it. 

To  the  precept,  which  will  then  be  more  conveniently 
examiined,  Jesus  now  added  a  practical  lesson  of 
amazing  beauty.  In  the  midst  of  twelve  rugged  and 
unsympathetic  men,  the  same  who,  despite  this  action, 
presently  rebuked  parents  for  seeking  the  -blessing  of 
Christ  upon  their  babes,  Jesus  sets  a  little  child.  What 
but  the  grace  and  love  which  shone  upon  the  sacred 
face  could  have  prevented  this  little  one  from  being 
utterly  disconcerted  ?■  But  children  have  a  strange 
sensibility  for  love.  Presently  this  happy  child  was 
caught  up  in  His  arms,  and  pressed  to  His  bosom,  and 
there  He  seems  to  have  lain  while  John,  possibly  con- 


254  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

science-stricken,  asked  a  question  and  recei\-ed  an  unex- 
pected answer.  And  the  silent  pathetic  trust  of  this  His 
lamb  found  its  v/ay  to  the  heart  of  Jesus,  who  presently 
spoke  of  "these  little  ones  who  believe  in  Me  "  (v.  42). 
Meanwhile  the  child  illustrated  in  a  double  sense 
the  rule  of  greatness  which  He  had  laid  down.  So 
great  is  lowliness  that  Christ  Himself  may  be  found 
in  the  person  of  a  little  child.  And  again,  so  great  is 
service,  that  in  receiving  one,  even  one,  of  the  multitude 
of  children  who  claim  our  sympathies,  we  receive  the 
very  Master  ;  and  in  that  lowly  Man,  who  was  among 
them  as  He  that  serveth,  is  manifested  the  very  God  : 
whoso  receiveth  Me  receiveth  not  Me  but  Him  that 
sent  me. 

OFFENCES. 

"John  said  unto  Him,  Master,  we  saw  one  casting  out  devils  in  Thy 
Name  :  and  we  forbade  him,  because  he  followetl  not  us.  But  Je^us 
said,  Forbid  him  not  :  for  there  is  no  man  which  sliall  do  a  mig!ity  worlt 
in  My  name,  and  be  able  quickly  to  speak  evil  of  Me.  For  he  that  is 
not  against  us  is  for  us.  For  whosoever  sliall  give  you  a  cup  of  water 
to  drink,  because  ye  are  Christ's,  verily  I  say  unto  y.ju,  he  sliall  in  no 
wise  lose  his  regard.  And  whosoever  shall  cause  one  of  these  little 
ones  that  believe  on  Me  to  stumble,  it  were  better  for  him  if  a  great 
millstone  were  hanged  about  his  neck,  and  he  were  cast  into  the  sea. 
And  if  thy  hand  cause  thee  to  stumble,  cut  it  off :  it  is  good  for  thee  to 
enter  into  life  maimed,  rather  than  having  thy  two  hands  to  go  into  hell, 
into  the  unquenchable  lire.  And  if  thy  foot  cause  thee  to  stumlile,  cut 
it  off:  it  is  good  for  thee  to  enter  into  life  halt,  rather  than  having  thy 
two  feet  to  be  cast  into  hell.  And  if  thine  eye  cause  thee  to  stumble, 
cast  it  out  ;  it  is  good  for  thee  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  with 
one  eye,  rather  than  having  two  eyes  to  be  cast  into  hell ;  where  their 
worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fue  is  not  quenched.  For  every  one  shall  be 
salted  with  fire.  Salt  is  good:  but  if  the  salt  have  lost  its  saltness, 
wherewith  will  ye  season  it?  Flave  salt  in  yourselves,  and  be  at  peace 
one  with  another."— Mark  ix.  38-50  (R.V.). 

When  Jesus  spoke  of  the  blessedness  of  receiving  in 
His  name  even  a  little  child,  the  conscience  of  St.  John 


Markix.  3S-S0.]  OFFENCES.  255 

became  uneas}'.  They  had  seen  one  casting  out  devils 
in  that  name,  and  had  forbidden  him,  ''  because  he 
followeth  not  us."  The  spirit  of  partizanship  which 
these  vvords  betray  is  somewhat  softer  in  St.  Luke,  but 
it  exists.  tie  reports  "  because  he  folio weth  not 
(Jesus)  with  us." 

The  behaviour  of  the  disciples  all  through  this  period 
is  unsatisfactory.  From  the  time  vv'hen  Peter  contra- 
dicted and  rebuked  Jesus,  down  to  their  final  desertion, 
there  is  v.'ealaiess  at  every  turn.  And  this  is  a  curious 
example  of  it,  that  immediately  after  having"  failed  them- 
selves,* they  should  rebuke  another  for  doing  what  their 
Master  had  once  declared  could  not  possibly  be  an  evil 
work.  If  Satan  cast  out  Satan  his  house  Vv'as  divided 
against  itself:  if  the  finger  of  God  was  there  no  doubt 
the  kingdom  of  God  was  come  unto  tb.era. 

It  is  interesting  and  natural  that  St.  John  should 
have  introduced  the  question.  Others  were  usuall}^ 
more  forward,  but  that  was  because  he  was  more 
thoughtful.  Peter  went  first  into  the  sepulchi'e  ;  but  he 
first,  seeing  what  was  tliere,  believed.  And  it  was  he 
who  said  *'  It  is  the  Lord,"  although  Peter  thereupon 
plunged  into  the  lake  to  reach  Llim.  Discerning  and 
grave  :  such  is  the  character  from  which  his  Gospel 
would  naturally  come,  and  it  belongs  to  him  who  first 
discerned  the  rebuke  to  their  conduct  implied  in  the 
words  of  Jesus.  Me  v.'as  right.  The  Lord  answered, 
"  Forbid  him  not,  for  there  is  no  man  which  shall  do  a 
mighty  work  in  My  name,  and  be  able  quickly  to  speak 
evil  of  Me  :  "  his  own  action  would  seal  his  lips  ;  he 
would  have  committed  himself.  Now  this  points  out  a 
very  serious  view  of  human  life,  too  often  overlooked. 

*  That    the  event   was  recent   i.5   implied  in  liie  present  tense:  "lie 
foUowtth  not  "  :    "  foibiJ  Lini  not  "  ;   the  matter  is  still  fresh. 


256  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

The  deed  of  to-day  rules  to-morrow;  one  is  half  en- 
slaved by  the  consequences  of  his  own  free  vvill.  Let 
no  man,  hesitating  between  two  lines  of  action,  ask, 
What  harm  in  this  ?  what  use  in  that  ?  without  adding, 
And  what  future  actions,  good  or  evil,  ma}^  they  carry 
in  their  train  ? 

The  man  whom  they  had  rebuked  was  at  least  certain 
to  be  for  a  time  detached  from  the  opponents  of  truth, 
silent  if  not  remonstrant  when  it  'as  assailed,  diluting 
and  enfeebling  the  enmity  of  its  opponents. '  And  so 
Christ  laid  down  the  principle,  "  He  that  is  not  against 
us  is  for  us."  In  St.  Luke  the  words  are  more  plainly 
pointed  against  this  party  spirit,  "  He  that  is  not  against 
you  is  for  you." 

LIow  shall  we  reconcile  this  principle  with  Christ's 
declaration  elsewheie,  "  Lie  that  is  not  with  Me  is 
against  Me,  and  he  that  gathereth  not  Vv'ith  Me 
scattereth  "  ? 

It  is  possible  to  argue  that  there  is  no  contradiction 
whatever,  for  both  deny  the  existence  of  a  neutral  class, 
and  from  this  it  equally  follows  that  he  who  is  not  with 
is  against,  and  he  who  is  not  against  is  with  us.  But 
this  answer  only  evades  the  difiiculty,  which  is,  that  one 
passage  reckons  seeming  neutrality  as  friendship,  while 
the  other  denounces  it  as  enmity. 

A  closer  examination  reveals  a  more  profound  recon- 
ciliation. In  St.  Matthew,  Christ  announced  Llis  own 
personal  claim  ;  in  St.  Mark  He  declares  that  His  people 
must  not  share  it.  Towards  Christ  Himself,  indifference 
is  practical  rejection.  The  manifestation  of  God  was 
not  made  to  be  criticised  or  set  aside  :  He  loves  them 
who  love  Llirn  ;  Lie  demands  the  hearts  He  died  for; 
and  to  give  Him  less  is  to  refuse  Llim  tlie  travail  of  His 
soul.     Therefore  He  that  is  not  with  Christ  is  against 


Markix.  38-50-] 


OFFENCES.  257 


Him      The  man  who  boasts  that  he  does  no  harm  but 
makes  no  pretence  of  religion,  is  proclaiming  that  one 
may  innocently  refuse  Christ.     And  it  is  very  noteworthy 
that  St   Matthew's  aphorism  was  evoked,  bke  this,  by 
a  question  about  the  casting  out  of  devils.     There  the 
Pharisees  had  said  that  He  cast  out  devils  by  Beelzebub. 
And  Jesus  had  warned  all  who  heard,  that  m  such  a 
controversy,  to  be  indifferent  was  to  deny  hnn.     Here, 
the  man  had  himself  appealed  to  the  power  of  Jesus. 
He   had  passed,  long  ago,  the  stage  of  cool  senn-con- 
temptuous  indifference.     Whether  he  was  a  disciple  of 
the  Baptist,  not  yet  entirely  won,  or  a  later  convert  who 
shrank  from  the  loss  of  all  things,  what  is  plain  is  that 
he  had  come  far  on  the  way  towards  Jesus.     It  does  not 
follow  that  he  enjoyed  a  saving  faith,  for  Christ  will  at 
last  profess  to  many  who  cast  out  devils  m  His  name, 
that  He  never  knew  them.     But  intellectual  persuasion 
and  some  active  reliance  were  there.     Let  them  beware 
of  crushing  the  germs,  because  they  were  not  yet  deve- 
loped     Nor  should  the  disciples  suppose  that  loyalty 
to  their  organization,  although  Christ  was  with  them, 
was  the   same   as   loyalty   to   Him.      "He  that  is  not 
against  you  is  for  you,"  according  to  St.  Luke.      Nay 
more    "  He  that  is  not  against  us  is  for  us,"  according 
to  St!  Mark.      But  already  He  had  spoken  the  stronger 
word,  "  He  that  is  not  for  Mc  is  against  Me." 

No  verse  has  been  more  employed  than  this  in 
sectarian  controversy.  And  sometimes  it  has  been 
pressed  too  far.  The  man  whom  St.  John  would  have 
silenced  was  not  spreading  a  rival  organization  ;  and 
we  know  how  the  same  Apostle  wrote,  long  afterwards 
of  those  who  did  so :  "  If  they  had  been  of  us,  they  would 
have  continued  with  us  ;  but  they  went  out  that  they 
might  be  made  manifest  how  all  they  are  not  of  us 

17 


258  GOSPEL   OF  ST.   MARK. 

(r  John  ii.  19).  This  was  simply  a  doer  of  good  with- 
out ecclesiastical  sanction,  and  the  warning  of  the  text 
is  against  all  who  would  use  the  name  of  discipline 
or  of  order  to  bridle  the  zeal,  to  curb  the  energies,  of 
any  Christian  soul.  But  it  is  at  least  as  often  the  new 
movement  as  the  old  organization  that  would  silence  all 
who  follow  not  with  it. 

But  the  energies  of  Christ  and  His  gospel  can  never 
be  monopolized  by  any  organization  whatsoever.  Every 
good  gift  and  every  perfect  gift,  wherever  we  behold  it, 
is  from  Him. 

All  help,  then,  is  to  be  welcomed  ;  not  to  hinder  is  to 
speed  the  cause.  And  therefore  Jesus,  repeating  a 
former  saying,  adds  that  whosoever,  moved  by  the 
name  of  Christ,  shall  give  His  followers  one  cup  of 
water,  shall  be  rewarded.  He  may  be  and  continue 
outside  the  Church  ;  his  after  life  may  be  sadly  incon- 
sistent with  this  one  action  :  that  is  not  the  question  ; 
the  sole  condition  is  the  genuine  motive — one  impulse  of 
true  respect,  one  flicker  of  loyalt}^,  only  decided  enough 
to  speed  the  weary  ambassador  with  the  simplest  possible 
refreshment,  should  "  in  no  wise  lose  its  reward."  Does 
this  imply  that  the  giver  should  assuredly  enter  heaven  ? 
Alas,  no.  But  this  it  says,  that  every  spark  of  fire  in 
the  smoking  flax  is  tended,  every  gracious  movement 
is  answered  by  a  gift  of  further  grace,  to  employ  or  to 
abuse.  Not  more  surely  is  the  thirsty  disciple  refreshed, 
than  the  feverish  worldliness  of  him  who  just  attains  to 
render  this  service  is  fanned  and  cooled  by  breezes  from 
heaven,  he  becomes  aware  of  a  deeper  and  nobler  life, 
he  is  melted  and  drawn  towards  better  things.  Very 
blessed,  or  very  miserable  is  he  who  cannot  remember 
the  holy  shame,  the  yearning,  the  sigh  because  he  is 
not  always  thus,  which  followed  naturally  upon  some 


Markix.  3S-50.]  OFFENCES.  259 

deed,  small  in  itself  perhaps,  but  good  enough  to  be 
inconsistent  with  his  baser  self.  The  deepening  of 
spiritual  capacity  is  one  exceeding  great  reward  of  every 
act  of  loyalty  to  Christ.  v^- 

This  was  graciously  said  of  a  deed  done  to  the  "^ 
apostles,  despite  their  failures,  rivalries,  and  rebukes 
of  those  who  would  fain  speed  the  common  cause. 
Not,  however,  because  they  were  apostles,  but  "  be- 
cause ye  are  Christ's."  And  so  was  the  least,  so  was 
the  child  who  clung  to  Him.  But  if  the  slightest  sym- 
pathy with  these  is  thus  laden  with  blessing,  then  to 
hinder,  to  cause  to  stumble  one  such  little  one,  how 
terrible  was  that.  Better  to  die  a  violent  and  shameful 
death,  and  never  sleep  in  a  peaceful  grave. 

There  is  a  worse  peril  than  from  others.  We  our- 
selves may  cause  ourselves  to  stumble.  We  may 
pervert  beyond  recall  things  innocent,  natural,  all  but 
necessary,  things  near  and  dear  and  useful  to  our 
daily  life  as  are  our  very  limbs.  The  loss  of  them  may 
be  so  lasting  a  deprivation  that  we  shall  enter  heaven 
maimed.  But  if  the  moral  evil  is  irrevocably  identified 
with  the  worldly  good,  we  must  renounce  it. 

The  hand  v.^ith  its  subtle  and  marvellous  power  may 
well  stand  for  harmless  accomplishments  now  fraught 
with  evil  suggestiveness  ;  for  innocent  modes  of  liveli- 
hood which  to  relinquish  means  crippled  helplessness, 
yet  which  have  become  hopelessly  entangled  with 
unjust  or  at  least  questionable  ways ;  for  the  great 
possessions,  honestly  come  by,  which  the  ruler  would 
not  sell ;  for  all  endowments  which  we  can  no  longer 
hope  to  consecrate,  and  which  make  one  resemble  the 
old  Chaldeans,  whose  might  was  their  god,  who 
sacrificed  to  their  net  and  burned  incense  to  their  drag. 

And  the  foot,  with  its  swiftness  in  boyhood,  its  plod- 


26o  GOSPEL   OF  ST.    MARK. 

ding  walk  along  the  pavement  in  maturer  age,  may 
well  represent  the  caprices  of  youth  so  hard  to  curb, 
and  also  the  half-mechanical  habits  which  succeed  to 
these,  and  by  which  manhood  is  ruled,  often  to  its 
destruction.  If  the  hand  be  capacity,  resource,  and 
possession,  the  foot  is  swift  perilous  impulse,  and  also 
fixed  habitude,  monotonous  recurrence,  the  settled  ways 
of  the  world. 

Cut  off  hand  and  foot,  and  what  is  left  to  the  muti- 
lated trunk,  the  ravaged  and  desolated  life  ?  Desire 
is  left ;  the  desire  of  the  eyes.  The  eyes  may  not 
touch  the  external  world  ;  all  may  now  be  correct  in 
our  actions  and  intercourse  with  men.  But  yet  greed, 
passion,  inflamed  imagination  may  desecrate  the  temple 
of  the  soul.  The  eyes  misled  Eve  when  she  saw  that 
the  fruit  was  good,  and  David  on  his  palace  roof. 
Before  the  eyes  of  Jesus,  Satan  spread  his  third  and 
worst  temptation.  And  our  Lord  seems  to  imply  that 
this  last  sacrifice  of  the  worst  because  the  deepest  evil 
must  be  made  with  indignant  vehemence ;  hand  and 
foot  must  be  cut  off,  but  the  eye  must  be  cast  out, 
though  life  be  half  darkened  in  the  process. 

These  latter  days  have  invented  a  softer  gospel, 
which  proclaims  that  even  the  fallen  err  if  they  utterly 
renounce  any  good  creature  of  God,  which  ought  to 
be  received  with  thanksgiving ;  that  the  duty  of 
moderation  and  self-control  can  never  be  replaced  by 
renunciation,  and  that  distrust  of  any  lawful  enjoyment 
revives  the  Manichean  heresy.  Is  the  eye  a  good 
creature  of  God  ?  May  the  foot  be  received  with 
thanksgiving  ?  Is  the  hand  a  source  of  lawful  enjoy- 
ment ?  Yet  Jesus  made  these  the  types  of  what  must, 
if  it  has  become  an  occasion  of  stumbling,  be  entirely 
cast  away. 


Mark  ix.  38-50.]  OFFENCES.  261 

He  added  that  in  such  cases  the  choice  is  between 
mutilation  and  the  loss  of  all.  It  is  no  longer  a 
question  of  the  full  improvement  of  every  faculty,  the 
doubling  of  all  the  talents,  but  a  choice  between  living  a 
life  impoverished  and  half  spoiled,  and  going  complete 
to  Gehenna,  to  the  charnel  valley  where  the  refuse 
of  Jerusalem  was  burned  in  a  continual  fire,  and  the 
worm  of  corruption  never  died.  The  expression  is  too 
metaphorical  to  decide  such  questions  as  that  of  the 
eternal  duration  of  punishment,  or  of  the  nature  of  the 
suflering  of  the  lost.  The  metaphors  of  Jesus,  how- 
ever, are  not  employed  to  exaggerate  His  meaning,  but 
only  to  express  it.  And  what  He  said  is  this  :  The 
man  who  cherishes  one  dear  and  excusable  occasion 
of  offence,  who  spares  himself  the  keenest  spiritual 
surgery,  shall  be  cast  forth  with  everything  that 
defileth,  shall  be  ejected  with  the  offal  of  the  New 
Jerusalem,  shall  suffer  corruption  like  the  transgressors 
of  whom  Isaiah  first  used  the  tremendous  phrase,  "  their 
worm  shall  not  die,  neither  shall  their  fire  be  quenched," 
shall  endure  at  once  internal  and  external  misery,  as  of 
decomposition  and  of  burning. 

Such  is  the  most  terrible  menace  that  ever  crossed 
the  lips  into  which  grace  was  poured.  And  it  was  not 
addressed  to  the  outcast  or  the  Pharisee,  but  to  His 
own.  They  were  called  to  the  highest  life ;  on  them 
the  influences  of  the  world  was  to  be  as  constant  and  as 
disintegrating  as  that  of  the  weather  upon  a  mountain 
top.  Therefore  they  needed  solemn  warning,  and  the 
counter-pressure  of  those  awful  issues  knov/n  to  be 
dependent  on  their  stern  self-discipline.  They  could 
not,  He  said  in  an  obscure  passage  which  has  been 
greatly  tampered  v."ith,  they  could  not  escape  fiery 
suffering  in  some  form.     But  the  fire  which  tried  would 


262  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

preserve  and  bless  them  if  they  endured  it ;  every  one 
shall  be  salted  with  fire.  But  if  they  who  ought  to  be 
the  salt  of  the  world  received  the  grace  of  God  in  vain, 
if  the  salt  have  lost  its  saltness,  the  case  is  desperate 
indeed. 

And  since  the  need  of  this  solemn  warning  sprang 
from  their  rivalry  and  partizanship,  Jesus  concludes 
with  an  emphatic  charge  to  discipline  and  correct 
themselves  and  to  beware  of  impeding  others  :  to  be 
searching  in  the  closet,  and  charitable  in  the  church  : 
to  have  salt  in  yourselves,  and  be  at  peace  with  one 
another. 


CHAPTER  X. 

DIVORCE. 


"  And  He  arose  from  thence,  and  cometh  into  the  borde^  of  Judoea 
and  CcUordan  :  and  .nultltucles  come  ^^f^^i:^:i2Z:!ZL 
and,  as  He  .as  wont.  He  tan.ht  the.  a^^^^^^^  ^tnC^Tl,  ,.  wife  P 
Pharisees,  and  asked  Hun,  Is  it  law  ui  „,,to  them,    What  did 

.e..pa„s  Hi.  And  ^l^^'^^^:^ ^L^L  U.  .^^^ ''^ 
Moses  commiind  you?     And  tl.cy  saw,  p^^ 

div»cen«n.,  a„l  .0  F«.  h„  -y^  J,"  irLl.en..     Bu.  f,0.  .he 

vom- hardness  of  heart  ne  wioie  yuLi  til  For  this 

Telinning  of  the  creation,  Male  and  f--'V"tndh'  cleave  to  Hs 
cause  sha'll  a  man  leave  his  father  -^^  ^f  l^^^^J^^  -  -  more 
wife  ;    and  the  twain  shall  become  one  flesh       o  ^^^^^  ^^^  ^, 

1    .  (\  ^A-.      Wlnt  therefore  Cod  nai.n  joineu  luj^clhv,  , 

twam,  but  one  flesh.     ^^  -   ^^^^^        ^^^  ^^^^,^,  ,,l,ed  Him  again  of 

n.an  put  asunder^  .^^ta  h  mto  hem.  Whosoever  shall  put  away  his 
adultery."-MAr.K  x.  I-I2  (R-V). 

T  T  is  easy  to  read  without  emotion  that  Jesus  arose 

i    from  the  scene  of  His  last  discourse,  and  came  n.to 

the  borders  of  Jud.^a  beyond  Jordan.     But  not  without 

emotion  did  Jesus  bid  farewell  to  Galilee,  to  the  home 

of  His  childhood  and  sequestered  youth    the  crad  e  c,f 

His  Church,  the  centre  of  nearly  all  the  love  and  faith 

He  had  awakened.      When  closer  still  to  death,  His 

heart  reverted  to  Galilee,  and  He  promised  that  when 

He  was  risen  He  would  go  thither  before  n-/--P  -' 

Now  He  had  to  leave  it.     And  we  must  not  forget  that 

every  step  He  took  towards  Jerusalem  was  a  dehberate 


264  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

approach  to  His  assured  and  anticipated  cross.  He 
was  not  like  other  brave  men,  who  endure  death  when 
it  arrives,  but  are  sustained  until  the  crisis  by  a 
thousand  flattering  hopes  and  undefined  possibilities. 
Jesus  knew  precisely  where  and  how  He  should  suffer. 
And  now,  as  He  arose  from  Galilee,  every  step  said, 
Lo,   I   come  to  do  Thy  will,   O  God. 

As  soon  as  He  entered  Perea  beyond  Jordan,  multi- 
tudes came  to  Him  again.-  Nor  did  His  burdened  heart 
repress  His  zeal :  rather  He  found  relief  in  their  impor- 
tunity and  in  His  Father's  business,  and  so,  "as  He 
was  wont,  He  taught  them  again."  These  simple  words 
express  the  rule  He  lived  by,  the  patient  continuance 
in  well-doing  which  neither  hostilities  nor  anxieties 
could  chill. 

Not  long  was  He  left  undisturbed.  The  Pharisees 
come  to  Him  with  a  question  dangerous  in  itself,  be- 
cause there  is  no  conceivable  answer  which  will  not 
estrange  many,  and  especially  dangerous  for  Jesus, 
because  already,  on  the  Mount,  He  has  spoken  upon 
this  subject  words  at  seeming  variance  with  His  free 
views  concerning  sabbath  observance,  fasting,  and  cere- 
monial purity.  Most  perilous  of  all  was  the  decision 
they  expected  when  given  by  a  teacher  already  under 
suspicion,  and  now  within  reach  of  that  Herod  who  had, 
during  the  lifetime  of  his  first  wife,  married  the  wife  of 
a  living  man.  "  Is  it  lav^^ful  for  a  man  to  put  away  his 
wife  for  every  cause  ?  "  It  was  a  decision  upon  this 
very  subject  which  had  proved  fatal  to  the  forerunner. 

But  Jesus  spoke  out  plainly.  In  a  question  and 
answer  which  are  variously  reported,  what  is  clear  is 
that  He  carefully  distinguished  b.tween  a  command 
and  a  permission  of  P,Icscs.  Divorce  liad  been  ailovv-ed  ; 
yes,  but  some  reason  h,aJ  been  exr.cted,  wiiatever  cis- 


Markx.  I-I2.]  DIVORCE.  265 

putes  might  exist  about  its  needful  gravity,  and  de- 
liberation had  been  enforced  b}^  demanding  a  legal 
document,  a  writing  of  divorcement.  Thus  conscience 
was  bidden  to  examine  its  motives,  and  time  was  gained 
for  natural  reientings.  But  after  all,  Jesus  declared 
that  divorce  was  only  a  concession  to  their  hardness  of 
heart.  Thus  we  learn  that  Old  Testament  institutions 
were  not  all  and  of  necessity  an  expression  of  the 
Divine  ideal.  They  were  sometimes  a  temporary  con- 
cession, meant  to  lead  to  better  things  ;  an  expedient 
rather  than  a  revelation. 

These  words  contain  the  germ  of  St.  Paul's  doctrine 
that  the  law  itself  was  a  schoolmaster,  and  its  function 
temporary. 

To  whatever  concessions  Moses  had  been  driven,  the 
original  and  unshaken  design  of  God  was  that  man  and 
woman  should  find  the  permanent  completion  of  their 
lives  each  in  the  other.  And  this  is  shown  by  three 
separate  considerations.  The  first  is  the  plan  of  the 
creation,  making  them  male  and  female,  and  such  that 
body  and  soul  alike  are  only  perfect  when  to  each  its 
complement  is  added,  when  the  masculine  element  and 
the  feminine  "  each  fulfils  defect  in  each  .  .  .  the  two- 
celled  heart  beating  with  one  full  stroke  life."  Thus 
by  anticipation  Jesus  condemned  the  tame-spirited  > 
verdict  of  His  disciples,  that  since  a  man  cannot  relieve 
Jiimself  from  a  union  when  it  proves  galling,  "  it  is  not 
good  "  to  marry  at  all.  To  this  he  distinctly  answered 
that  such  an  inference  could  not  prove  even  tolerable, 
except  when  nature  itself,  or  else  some  social  wrong,  or 
else  absorbing  devotion  to  the  cause  of  God,  virtually 
cancelled  the  original  design.  But  already  he  had  here 
shown  that  such  prudential  calculation  degrades  man, 
leaves     him   incomplete,   traverses  the  design   of  God 


256  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

Who  from  the  beginning  of  the  creation  made  them 
male  and  female.  In  our  own  days,  the  relation  between 
the  sexes  is  undergoing  a  social  and  legislative  revolu- 
tion. Now  Christ  says  not  a  word  against  the  equal 
rights  of  the  sexes,  and  in  more  than  one  passage  St. 
Paul  goes  near  to  assert  it.  But  equality  is  not  identity, 
either  of  vocation  or  capacity.  This  text  asserts  the 
separate  and  reciprocal  vocation  of  each,  and  it  is 
worthy  of  consideration,  how  far  the  special  vocation  of 
womanhood  is  consistent  with  loud  assertion  of  her 
"  separate  rights." 

Christ's  second  proof  that  marriage  cannot  be  dis- 
solved without  sin  is  that  glow  of  heart,  that  noble  aban- 
donment, in  which  a  man  leaves  even  father  and  mother 
for  the  joy  of  his  youth  and  the  love  of  his  espousals. 
In  that  sacred  hour,  how  hideous  and  base  a  v^^anton 
divorce  would  be  felt  to  be.  Now  man  is  not  free  to 
live  by  the  mean,  calculating,  selfish  afterthought,  which 
breathes  like  a  frost  on  the  bloom  of  his  noblest  impulses 
and  aspirations.  He  should  guide  hiniself  by  the  light  of 
his  highest  and  most  generous  intuitions. 

And  the  third  reason  is  that  no  man,  by  any  possibility, 
can  undo  what  marriage  does.  They  two  are  one  flesh  ; 
each  has  become  part  of  the  very  existence  of  the  other ; 
and  it  is  simply  incredible  that  a  union  so  profound,  so 
interwoven  with  the  very  tissue  of  their  being,  should 
lie  at  the  mercy  of  the  caprice  or  the  calculations  of  one 
or  other,  or  of  both.  Such  a  union  arises  from  the  pro- 
foundest  depths  of  the  nature  God  created,  not  from 
mean  cravings  of  that  nature  in  its  degradation  ;  and 
like  waters  springing  up  from  the  granite  underneath 
the  soil,  it  may  suffer  stain,  but  it  is  in  itself  free  from 
the  contamination  of  the  fall.  Despite  of  monkish  and 
of  Manichean  slanders,  impure   dreams   pretending  to 


Mark  X.  1-12.]  DIVORCE.  267 

especial  purity,  God  is  He  Who  joins  together  man  and 
woman  in  a  bond  which  "no  man,"  king  or  prelate,  may 
without  guilt  dissolve. 

Of  what  followed,  St.  Mark  is  content  to  tell  us  that 
in  the  house,  the  disciples  pressed  the  question  further. 
How  far  did  the  relaxation  which  Moses  granted 
over-rule  the  original  design  ?  To  what  extent  was 
every  individual  bound  in  actual  life  ?  And  the  answer, 
given  by  Jesus  to  guide  His  ovv'n  people  through  all 
time,  is  clear  and  unmistakeable.  'The  tie  cannot  be 
torn  asunder  without  sin.'  The  first  marriage  holds, 
until  actual  adultery  poisons  the  pure  life  in  it,  and 
man  or  woman  who  breaks  through  its  barriers  com- 
mits adultery.  The  Baptist's  judgment  of  Herod  was 
confirmed. 

So  Jesus  taught.  Ponder  well  that  honest  unshrink- 
ing grasp  of  solid  detail,  which  did  not  overlook  the 
physical  union  whereof  is  one  flesh,  that  S3'mpathy  with 
high  and  chivalrous  devotion  forsaking  all  else  for  its 
beloved  one,  that  still  more  spiritual  penetration  which 
discerned  a  Divine  purpose  and  a  destiny  in  the  corre- 
lation of  masculine  and  feminine  gifts,  of  strength  and 
grace,  of  energy  and  gentleness,  of  courage  and  long- 
suffering — observe  with  how  eas}^  and  yet  firm  a  grasp 
He  combines  all  these  into  one  overmastering  argument 
—-remember  that  when  He  spoke,  the  marriage  tie  was 
being  relaxed  all  over  the  ancient  world,  even  as  god- 
less legislation  is  to-da}'  relaxing  it — reflect  that  with 
such  relaxation  came  inevitably  a  blight  upon  the  family, 
resulting  in  degeneracy  and  ruin  for  the  nation,  while 
every  race  which  learned  the  lesson  of  Jesus  grew  strong 
and  pure  and  happy — and  then  say  whether  this  was 
only  a  Judsean  peasant,  or  the  Light  of  the  World 
indeed. 


268  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARF^. 


CHRIST  AND   LITTLE    CLIILDREN. 

"  And  they  brought  unto  Him  little  children,  that  He  should  touch 
them  :  and  the  disciples  rebuked  them.  But  when  Jesus  saw  it,  He 
was  moved  with  indignation,  and  said  unto  them,  Suffer  the  little 
children  to  come  unto  Me  ;  forbid  them  not :  for  of  such  is  the 
kingdom  of  God.  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  Whosoever  shnll  not  receive 
the  kingdom  of  God  as  a  little  child,  he  shall  in  no  wise  enter  therein. 
And  He  took  them  in  His  arms,  and  blessed  thL-m,  laying  His  hands 
upon  them." — Mark  x.  13-16  (R.V.). 

This  beautiful  story  gains  new  loveliness  from  its  con- 
text. The  disciples  had  weighed  the  advantages  and 
disadvantages  of  marriage,  and  decided  in  their  calcu- 
lating selfishness,  that  the  prohibition  of  divorce  made 
it  "  not  good  for  a  man  to  marry."  But  Jesus  had 
regarded  the  matter  from  quite  a  different  position ; 
and  their  saying  could  only  be  received  by  those  to 
whom  special  reasons  forbade  the  marriage  tie.  It 
was  then  that  the  fair  blossom  and  opening  flower  of 
domestic  life,  the  tenderness  and  winning  grace  of 
childhood,  appealed  to  them  for  a  softer  judgment. 
Little  children  (St.  Luke  says  "  babes  ")  were  brought 
to  Him  to  bless,  to  touch  them.  It  vv^as  a  remarkable 
sight.  He  was  just  departing  from  Perea  on  His  last 
journey  to  Jerusalem.  The  nation  was  about  to  abjure 
its  King  and  perish,  after  having  invoked  Llis  blood  to 
be  not  on  them  only,  but  on  their  children.  But  here 
v/ere  some  at  least  of  the  next  generation  led  by 
parents  who  revered  Jesus,  to  receive  His  blessing. 
And  who  shall  dare  to  limit  the  influence  exerted  by 
that  benediction  on  their  future  lives  ?  Is  it  forgotten 
that  this  very  Perea  was  the  haven  of  refuge  for  Jewish 
believers  when  the  wrath  fell  upon  their  nation  ? 
Meanwhile   the  fresh  smile  of  their  unconscious,  un- 


Mark  X.  1 3- 1 6.]     CHRIST  AND  LITTLE  CHILDREN.  2G9 

Stained,  unforeboding  infancy  met  the  grave  sixiil.e  of 
the  all-conscious,  death-boding  Man  of  Sorrows,  as 
much  purer  as  it  was  more  profound. 

But  the  disciples  were  not  melted.  They  were 
occupied  with  grave  questions.  Babes  could  under- 
stand nothing,  and  therefore  could  receive  no  conscious 
intelligent  enlightenment.  What  then  could  Jesus  do 
for  them  ?  Many  wise  persons  are  still  of  quite  the 
same  opinion.  No  spiritual  influences,  they  tell  us,  can 
reach  the  soul  until  the  brain  is  capable  of  drawing 
logical  distinctions.  A  gentle  mother  may  breathe 
softness  and  love  into  a  child's  nature,  or  a  harsh 
nurse  may  jar  and  disturb  its  temper,  until  the  effects 
are  as  visible  on  the  plastic  face  as  is  the  sunshine  or 
storm  upon  the  bosom  of  a  lake  ;  but  for  the  grace  of 
God  there  is  no  opening  yet.  As  if  soft  and  loving 
influences  are  not  themselves  a  grace  of  God.  As  if 
the  world  were  given  certain  odds  in  the  race,  and  the 
powers  of  heaven  were  handicapped.  As  if  the  young 
heart  of  every  child  were  a  place  where  sin  abounds 
(since  he  is  a  fallen  creature,  with  an  original  tendency 
towards  evil),  but  where  grace  doth  not  at  all  abound. 
Such  is  the  unlovely  theory.  And  as  long  as  it  pre- 
vails in  the  Church  we  need  not  wonder  at  the  com- 
pensating error  of  rationalism,  denying  evil  where  so 
many  of  us  deny  grace.  It  is  the  more  amiable  error 
of  the  two.  Since  then  the  disciples  could  not  believe 
that  edification  was  for  babes,  they  naturally  rebuked 
those  that  brought  them.  Alas,  hovv^  often  still  does 
the  beauty  and  innocence  of  childhood  appeal  to  men 
in  vain.  And  this  is  so,  because  we  see  not  the  Divine 
grace,  "  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  in  these.  Their 
weakness  chafes  our  impatience,  their  simplicity  irri- 
tates our  worldliness,  and  their  touching  helplessness 


270  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

and  trustfulness  do  not  find  in  us  heart  enough  for  any 
glad  response. 

In  ancient  times  they  had  to  pass  through  the  fire  to 
Moloch,  and  since  then  through  other  fires  :  to  fashion 
when  mothers  leav'e  them  to  the  hired  kindness  of  a 
nurse,  to  selfishness  when  their  want  appeals  to  our 
charities  in  vain,  and  to  cold  dogmatism,  which  would 
banish  them  from  the  baptismal  font,  as  the  disciples 
repelled  them  from  the  embrace  of  Jesus.  But  He  was 
moved  with  indignation,  and  reiterated,  as  men  do  when 
they  feel  deeply,  "  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come 
unto  Me  ;  forbid  them  not."  And  He  added  this  con- 
clusive reason,  "  for  of  such/'  of  children  and  childlike 
men,  "  is  the  kingdom  of  God." 

What  is  the  meaning  of  this  remarkable  assertion  ? 
To  answer  aright,  let  us  return  in  fancy  to  the  morn- 
ing of  our  clays ;  let  our  flesh,  and  all  our  primitive 
being,  come  back  to  us  as  those  of  a  little  child. 

We  were  not  faultless  then.  The  theological  dogma 
of  original  sin,  however  unwelcome  to  many,  is  in 
harmony  with  all  experience.  Impatience  is  there,  and 
many  a  childish  fault ;  and  graver  evils  develop  as 
surely  as  life  unfolds,  just  as  weeds  show  themselves 
in  summer,  the  germs  of  which  were  already  mingled 
with  the  better  seed  in  spring.  It"^  is  plain  to  all 
observers  that  the  weeds  of  human  nature  are  latent 
in  the  early  soil,  that  this  is  not  pure  at  the  beginning 
of  each  individual  life.  Does  not  our  new-fangled 
science  explain  this  fact  by  telling  us  that  we  have  still 
in  our  blood  the  transmitted  influences  of  our  ancestors 
the  brutes  ? 

But  Christ  never  meant  to  say  that  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  was  only  for  the  immaculate  and  stainless.  If 
converted  men  receive  it,  in  spite  of  many  a  hp.untino- 


Markx.  i3-i6.]     CHRIST  AND  LITTLE  CHILDREN.  271 

appetite  and  recurring  lust,  then  the  frailties  of  our 
babes  shall  not  forbid  us  to  believe  the  blessed  assur- 
ance that  the  kingdom  is  also  theirs. 

How  many  hindrances  to  the  Divine  life  fall  a\vay 
from  us,  as  our  fancy  recalls  our  childhood.  What 
weary  and  shameful  memories,  base  hopes,  tawdry 
splendours,  envenomed  pleasures,  entangling  associa- 
tions vanish,  what  sins  need  to  be  confessed  no  longer, 
how  much  evil  knowledge  fades  out  that  we  never  now 
shall  quite  unlearn,  which  haunts  the  memory  even 
though  the  conscience  be  absolved  from  it.  The  days 
of  our  youth  are  not  those  evil  days,  when  anything 
within  us  saith.  My  soul  hath  no  pleasure  in  the 
ways  of  God. 

When  we  ask  to  what  especial  qualities  of  childhood 
did  Jesus  attach  so  great  value,  two  kindred  attributes 
are  distinctly  indicated  in  Scripture. 

One  is  humility.  The  previous  chapter  showed  us 
a  little  child  set  in  the  midst  of  the  emulous  disciples, 
whom  Christ  instructed  that  the  way  to  be  greatest  was 
to  become  like  this  little  child,  the  least. 

A  child  is  not  humble  through  affectation,  it  never 
professes  nor  thinks  about  humility.  But  it  under- 
stands, however  imperfectly,  that  it  is  beset  by  mys- 
terious and  peiilous  forces,  which  it  neither  compre- 
hends nor  can  grapple  with.  And  so  are  we.  Therefore 
all  its  instincts  and  experiences  teach  it  to  submit,  to 
seek  guidance,  not  to  put  its  own  judgment  in  competi- 
tion with  those  of  its  appointed  guides.  To  them, 
therefore,  it  clings  and  is  obedient. 

Why  is  it  not  so  with  us  ?  Sadly  we  also  know  the 
peril  of  self-will,  the  misleading  power  of  appetite  and 
passion,  the  humiliating  failures  which  track  the  steps 
of  self-assertion,  the  distortion  of  our  judgments,  the 


272  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

feebleness  of  our  wills,  the  mysteries  of  life  and  death 
amid  which  we  grope  in  vain.  Milton  anticipated  Sir 
Isaac  Newton  in  describing  the  wisest 

"As  children  gathering  pebbles  on  the  shore." 

Far.  Reg.,  iv.  330. 

And  if  this  be  so  true  in  the  natural  world  that 
its  sages  become  as  little  children,  how  much  more 
in  those  spiritual  realms  for  which  our  faculties 
are  still  so  infantile,  and  of  which  our  experience  is 
so  rudimentary.  We  should  all  be  nearer  to  the 
kingdom,  or  greater  in  it,  if  we  felt  our  dependence, 
and  like  the  child  were  content  to  obey  our  Guide  and 
cling  to  Him. 

The  second  childlike  quality  to  which  Christ  attached 
value  was  readiness  to  receive  simply.  Dependence 
naturally  results  from  humility.  Man  is  proud  of 
his  independence  only  because  he  relies  on  his  own 
powers  ;  when  these  are  paralysed,  as  in  the  sickroom 
or  before  the  judge,  he  is  willing  again  to  become  a 
child  in  the  hands  of  a  nurse  or  of  an  advocate.  In  the 
realm  of  the  spirit  these  iiatural  powers  are  paralysed. 
Learning  cannot  resist  temptation,  nor  wealth  expiate 
a  sin.  And  therefore,  in  the  spiritual  world,  we  are 
meant  to  be  dependent  and  receptive. 

Christ  taught,  in  tlie  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  that  to 
those  who  asked  Him,  God  would  give  His  Spirit  as 
earthly  parents  give  good  things  to  their  children. 
Here  also  we  are  taught  to  accept,  to  receive  the 
kingdom  as  little  children,  not  flattering  ourselves  that 
our  own  exertions  can  dispense  with  the  free  gift,  not 
unwilling  to  become  pensioners  of  heaven,  not  dis- 
trustful of  the  heart  which  grants,  not  finding  the 
bounties   irksome   which   are   prompted  by  a   Fathers' 


INI 


aikx.  13-16.]     CHRIST  AND  LITTLE  CHILDREN.  273 


love.  What  can  be  more  charming  in  its  gracefuhiess 
than  the  reception  of  a  favour  by  an  aiiectionate  cliild. 
His  glad  and  confident  enjoyment  are  a  picture  of  what 
ours  might  be. 

Since  children  receive  the  kingdom,  and  are  a  pattern 
for  us  in  doing  so,  it  is  clear  that  they  do  not  possess 
the  kingdom  as  a  natural  right,  but  as  a  gift.  But 
since  they  do  receive  it,  they  must  surely  be  capable  of 
receiving  also  that  sacrament  which  is  the  sign  and  seal 
of  it.  It  is  a  startling  position  indeed  which  denies 
admission  into  the  visible  Church  to  those  of  whom  is 
the  kingdom  of  God.  It  is  a  position  taken  up  only 
because  many,  who  would  shrink  from  any  such  avowal, 
half-unconsciously  believe  that  God  becomes  gracious 
to  us  only  when  His  grace  is  attracted  by  skilful 
movements  upon  our  part,  by  conscious  and  well- 
instructed  efforts,  by  penitence,  faith  and  orthodoxy. 
But  whatever  soul  is  capable  of  any  taint  of  sin  must 
be  capable  of  compensating  influences  of  the  Spirit,  by 
Whom  Jeremiah  was  sanctified,  and  the  Baptist  was 
filled,  even  before  their  birth  into  this  world  (Jer.  i.  5  ; 
Luke  i.  15).  Christ  Himself,  in  Whom  dwelt  bodily  all 
the  fulness  of  the  Godhead,  was  not  therefore  incapable 
of  the  simplicity  and  dependence  of  infancy. 

Having  taught  His  disciples  this  great  lesson,  Jesus 
let  His  affections  loose.  He  folded  the  children  in  His 
tender  and  pure  embrace,  and  blessed  them  much, 
laying  His  hands  on  them,  instead  of  merely  touching 
them.  He  blessed  them  net  because  they  were  baptized. 
But  we  baptize  our  children,  because  all  such  have 
received  the  blessing,  and  are  clasped  in  the  arms  01 
the  Founder  of  the  Church. 


iS 


274  GOSFEL    Of   ST.    MARK. 


THE  RICH  INQUHiER. 

"And  as  He  was  going  forth  into  tlie  way,  there  ran  one  to  Him, 
and  kneeled  to  Him,  and  asked  Him,  Good  Master,  what  shall  I  do 
that  I  may  inherit  eternal  life?  And  Jesus  said  mito  him,  Why  callest 
thou  INIe  good  ?  none  is  good  save  ona,  even  God.  Thou  knowest 
the  commandments,  Do  not  kill.  Do  not  commit  adultery.  Do  not  steal, 
Do  not  bear  false  witness,  Do  not  defraud,  Honour  thy  father  and 
mother.  And  He  said  unto  him.  Master,  all  these  things  have  I  ob- 
served from  my  youth.  And  Jesus,  looking  upon  him  loved  him,  and 
said  unto  him,  One  thing  thou  lackest :  go,  sell  whatsoever  thou  hast, 
and  give  to  the  poor,  and  thou  shalt  have  treasure  in  heaven  :  and 
come,  follow  Me.  But  his  countenance  fell  at  the  saying,  and  he 
went  nway  sorrowful  :  for  he  was  one  that  had  great  possessions."^ 
Mark  x.  17-22  (R.V.). 

The  excitement  stirred  by  our  Lord's  teaching  must 
often  have  shown  itself  in  a  scene  of  eagerness  hke 
this  which  St.  Mark  describes  so  weU.  The  Saviour 
is  just  "  g  ing  forth  "  when  one  rushes  to  overtake  Him, 
and  kneels  down  to  Him,  full  of  the  hope  of  a  great 
discovery.  He  is  so  frank,  so  innocent  and  earnest,  as 
to  win  the  love  of  Jesus.  And  yet  he  presently  goes 
away,  not  as  he  came,  but  with  a  gloomy  forehead  and 
a  heavy  heart,  and  doubtless  with  slow  reluctance. 

The  authorities  were  now  in  such  avowed  opposi- 
tion that  to  be  Christ's  disciple  was  disgraceful  if  not 
dangerous  to  a  man  of  mark.  Yet  no  fear  withheld 
this  young  ruler  who  had  so  much  to  lose  ;  he  would 
not  come  by  night,  like  Nicodemus  before  the  storm 
had  gathered  which  was  now  so  dark ;  he  openly 
avowed  his  belief  in  the  goodness  of  the  Master,  and 
his  own  ignorance  of  some  great  secret  vv'liich  Jesus 
could  reveal. 

There  is  indeed  a  charming  frankness  in  his  bearing, 
so  that  we  admire  even  his  childlike  assertion  of  his 
own   virtues,   while  the  heights  of  a  nobility  yet  un- 


Mark  X.  17-22.]  THE   RICH  INQUIRER.  275 

attained  are  clearly  possible  for  one  so  dissatisfied,  so 
anxious  for  a  higher  life,  so  urgent  in  his  questioning, 
What  shall  I  do  ?  What  lack  I  yet  ?  That  is  what 
makes  the  difference  between  the  Pharisee  who  thanks 
God  that  he  is  not  as  other  men,  and  this  youth  who 
has  kept  all  the  commandments,  yet  would  fain  be 
other  than  he  is,  and  readily  confesses  that  all  is  not 
enough,  that  some  unknown  act  still  awaits  achieve- 
ment. The  goodness  which  thinks  itself  upon  the 
summit  will  never  toil  much  farther.  The  conscience 
that  is  really  awake  cannot  be  satisfied,  but  is  perplexed 
rather  and  bafified  by  the  virtues  of  a  dutiful  and  well- 
ordered  life.  For  a  chasm  ever  yawns  between  the 
actual  and  the  ideal,  what  we  have  done  and  what  we 
fain  would  do.  And  a  spiritual  glory,  undefined  and 
perhaps  undefinable,  floats  ever  before  the  eyes  of 
all  men  whom  the  god  of  this  world  has  not  blinded. 
This  inquirer  honestly  thinks  himself  not  far  from 
the  great  attainment ;  he  expects  to  reach  it  by  some 
transcendant  act,  some  great  deed  done,  and  for  this  he 
has  no  doubt  of  his  own  prowess,  if  only  he  were  well 
directed.  What  shall  I  do  that  I  ma}^  have  eternal 
life,  not  of  grace,  but  as  a  debt — that  I  may  inherit  it  ? 
Thus  he  awaits  direction  upon  the  road  where  heathenism 
and  semi-heathen  Christianity  are  still  toiling,  and  all 
who  would  purchase  the  gift  of  God  with  money  or  toil 
or  merit  or  biLterness  of  remorseful  tears. 

One  easily  foresees  that  the  reply  of  Jesus  will  dis- 
appoint and  humble  him,  but  it  startles  us  to  see  him 
pointed  back  to  works  and  to  the  law  of  Moses. 

Again,  we  observe  that  what  this  inquirer  seeks  he 
very  earnestly  believes  Jesus  to  have  attained.  And 
it  is  no  mean  tribute  to  the  spiritual  elevation  of  our 
Lord,  no  doubtful  indication  that  amid  perils  and  con- 


276  GOSPEL    OF  ST.  MARK. 

tradictions  and  on  His  road  to  the  cross  the  peace  of 
God  sat  visibly  upon  His  brow,  that  one  so  pure  and 
yet  so  keenly  aware  that  his  own  virtue  sufficed  not, 
and  that  the  kingdom  of  God  was  yet  unattained,  should 
kneel  in  the  dust  before  the  Nazarene,  and  beseech 
this  good  Master  to  reveal  to  him  all  his  questioning. 
It  was  a  strange  request,  and  it  was  granted  in  an  un- 
looked  for  wa3^  The  demand  of  the  Chaldean  tyrant 
that  his  forgotten  dream  should  be  interpreted  was  not 
so  extravagant  as  this,  that  the  defect  in  an  unknown 
career  should  be  discovered.  It  was  upon  a  lofty 
pedestal  indeed  that  this  ruler  placed  our  Lord. 

And  ytt  his  question  supplies  the  clue  to  that  answer 
of  Christ  which  has  perplexed  so  many.  The  youth  is 
seeking  for  himself  a  purely  human  merit,  indigenous 
and  underived.  And  the  same,  of  course,  is  what  he 
ascribes  to  Jesus,  to  Him  who  is  so  far  from  claiming 
independent  human  attainment,  or  professing  to  be 
what  this  youth  v^^ould  fain  become,  that  He  said,  "The 
Son  can  do  nothing  of  Himself.  .  .  I  can  of  Mine  own 
self  do  nothing."  The  secret  of  His  human  perfection 
is  the  absolute  dependence  of  His  humanity  upon  God, 
with  Whom  He  is  one.  No  wonder  then  that  He 
repudiates  any  such  goodness  as  the  ruler  had  in  view. 

The  Socinian  finds  quite  another  meaning  in  His 
reply,  and  urges  that  by  these  words  Jesus  denied  His 
Deity.  There  is  none  good  but  one.  That  is  God,  Vv^as 
a  reason  why  He  should  not  be  called  so.  Jesus  how- 
ever does  not  remonstrate  absolutely  against  being  called 
good,  but  against  being  thus  addressed  from  this  ruler's 
[ioint  of  view,  by  one  who  regards  Him  as  a  mere 
teacher  and  expects  to  earn  the  same  title  for  himself. 
And  indeed  the  Socinian  who  appeals  to  this  text 
grasps  a  sword  by  the  blade.      For  if  it  denied  Christ's 


Mark  X.  17-22.]  THE   RICH  INQUIRER.  277 

divinity  it  must  exactly  to  the  same  extent  deny  also 
Christ's  goodness,  which  he  admits.  Now  it  is  beyond 
question  that  Jesus  differed  from  all  the  saints  in  the 
serene  confidence  with  which  He  regarded  the  moral 
law,  from  the  time  when  He  received  the  baptism  of 
repentance  only  that  He  might  fulfil  all  righteousness, 
to  the  hour  when  He  cried,  "  Why  hast  Thou  forsaken 
Me  ?  "  and  although  deserted,  claimed  God  as  still  His 
God.  The  saints  of  to-day  were  the  penitents  of 
yesterday.  But  He  has  finished  the  work  that  was 
given  Him  to  do.  He  knows  that  God  hears  Him 
always,  and  in  Him  the  Prince  of  this  world  hath 
nothing.  And  yet  there  is  none  good  but  God.  Who 
then  is  He?  If  this  saying  does  not  confess  what  is 
intolerable  to  a  reverential  Socinian,  what  Strauss  and 
Renan  shrank  from  insinuating,  what  is  alien  to  the 
whole  spirit  of  the  Gospels,  and  assuredly  far  from 
the  mind  of  the  evangelists,  then  it  claims  all  that  His 
Church  rejoices  to  ascribe  to  Christ. 

Moreover  Jesus  does  not  deny  even  to  ordinary  men 
the  possibility  of  being  "  good."  ' 

A  good  man  out  of  the  good  treasure  of  his  heart 
bringeth  forth  good  things.  Some  shall  hear  at  last 
the  words,  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant.  The 
children  of  the  kingdom  are  good  seed  among  the  tares. 
Clearly  His  repugnance  is  not  to  the  epithet,  but  to  the 
spirit  in  which  it  is  bestovv'ed,  to  the  notion  that  good- 
ness can  spring  spontaneously  from  the  soil  of  our 
humanity.  But  there  is  nothing  here  to  discourage 
the  highest  aspirations  of  the  trustful  and  dependent 
soul,  who  looks  for  more  grace. 

The  doctrinal  importance  of  this  remarkable  utter- 
ance is  what  most  affects  us,  who  look  back  through 
the  dust  of  a  hundred  controversies.     But  it  was  verv 


278  GOSPEL    OF  ST.  MARK. 

secondary  at  the  time,  and  what  the  ruler  doubtless 
felt  most  was  a  chill  sense  of  repression  and  perhaps 
despair.  It  was  indeed  the  death-knell  of  his  false 
hopes.  For  if  only  God  is  good,  how  can  any  mortal 
inherit  eternal  life  by  a  good  deed  ?  And  Jesus  goes  on 
to  deepen  this  conviction  by  words  which  find  a  won- 
derful commentary  in  St.  Paul's  doctrine  of  the  function 
of  the  law.  It  was  to  prepare  men  for  the  gospel  by  a 
challenge,  by  revealing  the  standard  of  true  righteous- 
ness, by  saying  to  all  who  seek  to  earn  heaven,  "The 
man  that  doeth  these  things  shall  live  by  them."  The 
attempt  was  sure  to  end  in  failure,  for,  "  by  the  law  is 
the  knowledge  of  sin."  It  was  exactly  upon  this  prin- 
ciple that  Jesus  said  "Keep  the  commandments,"  spirit- 
ualizing them,  as  St.  Matthew  tells  us,  by  adding  to 
the  injunctions  of  the  second  table,  "Thou  shalt  love 
thy  neighbour  as  thyself,"  which  saying,  we  know, 
briefly  comprehends  them  all. 

But  the  ruler  knew  not  how  much  he  loved  himself: 
his  easy  life  had  met  no  searching  and  stern  demand 
until  now,  and  his  answer  has  a  tone  of  relief,  after 
the  ominous  words  he  had  first  heard.  "  Master,"  and 
he  now  drops  the  questionable  adjective,  "  all  these 
have  I  kept  from  my  youth ; "  these  never  were  so 
burdensome  that  he  should  despair ;  not  these,  he 
thinks,  inspired  that  unsatisfied  longing  for  some  good 
thing  yet  undone.  We  pity  and  perhaps  blame  the 
shallow  answer,  and  the  dull  perception  which  it 
betrayed.  But  Jesus  looked  on  him  and  loved  him. 
And  well  it  is  for  us  that  no  eyes  fully  discern  our 
weakness  but  those  which  were  so  often  filled  with 
sympathetic  tears.  He  sees  error  more  keenly  than  the 
sharpest  critic,  but  he  sees  earnestness  too.  And  the 
love  which  desired  all  souls  was  attracted  especially  by 


Mark  X.  17-22.]  THE   RICH  INQUIRER.  279 


one  who  had  felt  from  his  youth  up  the  obhgation  of 
the  moral  law,  and  had  not  consciously  transgressed  it. 
This  is  not  the  teaching  of  those  vile  proverbs  which 
declare  that  wild  oats  must  be  sown  if  one  would  reap 
good  corn,  and  that  the  greater  the  sinner  the  greater 
will  be  the  saint. 

Nay,  even  religionists  of  the  sensational  school  delight 
in  the  past  iniquities  of  those  they  honour,  not  only  to 
glorify  God  for  their  recovery,  nor  with  the  joy  which  • 
is  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  over  one  sinner  that 
repenteth,  but  as  if  these  possess  through  their  former 
wickedness  some  passport  to  special  service  now.  Yet 
neither  in  Scripture  nor  in  the  history  of  the  Church 
will  it  appear  that  men  of  licentious  revolt  against 
known  laws  have  attained  to  usefulness  of  the  highest 
order.  The  Baptist  was  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost 
from  his  mother's  womb.  The  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles 
was  blameless  as  touching  the  righteousness  of  the  law. 
And  each  Testament  has  a  special  promise  for  those 
who  seek  the  Lord  early,  who  seek  His  kingdom  and 
righteousness  first.  The  undefiled  are  nearest  to  the 
throne. 

Now  mark  how  endearing,  how  unlike  the  stern  zeal 
of  a  propagandist,  was  Christ's  tender  and  loving  gaze  ; 
and  hear  the  encouraging  promise  of  heavenly  treasure, 
and  offer  of  His  own  companionship,  which  presently 
softened  the  severity  of  His  demand  ;  and  again,  when 
all  failed,  when  His  followers  doubtless  scorned  the 
deserter,  ponder  the  truthful  and  compassionate  words, 
How  hard  it  is  ! 

Yet  will  Christ  teach  him  how  far  the  spirit  of  the  law 
pierces,  since  the  letter  has  not  wrought  the  knowledge        \ 
of  sin.     If  he  loves  his  neighbour  as  himself,  let  his       ^ 
needier  neighbour  receive  what  he  most  values.      If  he 


< 


28o  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

loves  God  supremely,  let  him  be  content  with  treasure 
in  the  hands  of  God,  and  with  a  discipleship  which 
shall  ever  reveal  to  him,  more  and  more  profoundly,  the 
will  of  God,  the  true  nobility  of  man,  and  the  way  to 
that  eternal  life  he  seeks. 

I'he  socialist  would  justify  by  this  verse  a  universal 
confiscation.  But  he  forgets  that  the  spirit  which 
seizes  all  is  widel}'  different  from  tb.at  which  gives  all 
freely  :  that  Zaccheeus  retained  half  his  goods  ;  that 
Joseph  of  Arimathea  was  rich  ;  that  the  property  of 
Ananias  was  his  own,  and  when  he  sold  it  the  price 
\Yas  in  his  own  power ;  that  St.  James  warned  the  rich 
in  this  world  only  against  trusting  in  riches  instead  of 
trusting  God,  who  gave  them  all  richly,  for  enjoyment, 
although  not  to  be  confided  in.  Soon  after  this  Jesus 
accepted  a  feast  from  his  friends  in  Bethany,  and 
rebuked  Judas  who  complained  that  a  costly  luxury 
had  not  been  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor.  Why 
then  is  his  demand  now  so  absolute  ?  It  is  simply  an 
application  of  his  bold  universal  rule,  that  every  cause 
of  stumbling  must  be  sacrificed,  be  it  innocent  as  hand 
or  foot  or  eye.  And  affluent  indeed  would  be  all  the 
charities  and  missions  of  the  Church  in  these  latter 
days,  if  the  demand  were  obeyed  in  cases  where  -it 
really  applies,  if  every  luxury  which  enervates  and  all 
pomp  which  intoxicates  were  sacrificed,  if  all  who  know 
that  wealth  is  a  snare  to  them  corrected  their  weakness 
by  rigorous  discipline,  their  unfruitfulness  by  a  sharp 
pruning  of  superfluous  frondage. 

The  rich  man  neither  remonstrated  nor  defended 
himself.  His  self-confidence  gave  way.  He  feit 
that  what  he  could  not  persuade  himself  to  do  was  a 
'•'  good  thing."  And  he  who  came  running  went  away 
sorrowful,    and  with  a  face   "  lowering "    like    the  sky 


Markx.  23-3I-]       ^^^O    THEN  CAN  BE   SAVED?  281 

which  forebodes  "  foul  weather."  That  is  too  often 
the  issue  of  such  vaunting  offers.  Yet  feehng  his 
weakness,  and  neither  resisting  nor  upbraiding  the 
faithfuhiess  which  exposes  him,  doubtless  he  was  long 
disquieted  by  new  desires,  a  strange  sense  of  failure 
and  unworthiness,  a  clearer  vision  of  that  higher  life 
which  had  already  haunted  his  reveries.  Henceforward 
he  had  no  choice  but  to  sink  to  a  baser  contentment, 
or  else  rise  to  a  higher  self-devotion.  Who  shall  say, 
because  he  failed  to  decide  then,  that  he  persisted  for 
ever  in  the  great  refusal  ?  Yet  v/as  it  a  perilous  and  ^ 
hardening  experience,  and  it  was  easier  henceforward 
to  live  below  his  ideal,  when  once  he  had  turned  away 
from  Christ.  Nor  is  there  any  reason  to  doubt  that  the 
inner  circle  of  our  Lord's  immediate  followers  was  then 
for  ever  closed  against  him. 

WHO    TEIEN  CAN  BE   SA  VED  ? 

"  And  Jesus  looked  round  about,  and  saith  unto  His  disciples,  How 
hardly  shall  they  that  have  riches  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  ! 
And  the  disciples  were  amazed  at  His  words.  But  Jesus  answereth 
again,  and  saith  unto  them,  Children,  how  hard  is  it  for  them  that 
trust  in  riches  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  !  It  is  easier  for  a 
camel  to  go  through  a  needle's  eye,  than  for  a  I'ich  man  to  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  God.  And  they  were  astonished  exceedingly,  saying 
unto  Him,  Then  who  can  be  saved  ?  Jesus  looking  upon  them  saith. 
With  men  it  is  impossible,  but  not  witli  God :  for  all  things  are 
possible  with  God.  Peter  began  to  say  unto  Him,  Lo,  we  have  left  all, 
and  have  followed  thee.  Jesus  said,  Verily  I  say  unto  you.  There  is  no 
man  that  hath  left  hou^e,  or  brethren,  or  sisters,  or  mother,  or  father,  or 
children,  or  lands,  for  my  sake,  and  for  the  gospel's  sake,  but  he  shall 
receive  a  hundredfold  now  in  this  time,  houses,  and  brethren,  and 
sisters,  and  mothers,  and  children,  and  lands,  with  persecutions  ;  and 
in  the  world  to  come  eternal  life.  But  many  that  are  first  shall  be  last  ; 
and  the  la;t  first." — Mark  x.  23-31   (R.V.). 

As  the  rich   man  turned  away  with  the  arrow  in   his 
breast,    Jesus    looked   round    about   on    His    disciples. 


282  GOSPEL   OF  ST.    MARK. 

The  Gospels,  and  especially  St.  Mark,  often  mention 
the  gaze  of  Jesus,  and  all  who  know  the  power  of  an 
intense  and  pure  nature  silently  searching  others,  the 
piercing  intuition,  the  calm  judgment  which  sometimes 
looks  out  of  holy  eyes,  can  well  understand  the  reason. 
Disappointed  love  was  in  His  look,  and  that  compas- 
sionate protest  against  harsh  judgments  which  presently 
went  on  to  admit  that  the  necessary  demand  was  hard. 
Some,  perhaps,  who  had  begun  to  scorn  the  ruler  in 
his  defeat,  were  reminded  of  frailties  of  their  own,  and 
had  to  ask,  Shall  I  next  be  judged?  And  one  was 
among  them,  pilfering  from  the  bag  what  was  intended 
for  the  poor,  to  whom  that  look  of  Christ  must  have 
been  very  terrible.  Unless  we  remember  Judas,  we 
shall  not  comprehend  all  the  fitness  of  the  repeated 
and  earnest  warnings  of  Jesus  against  covetousness. 
Never  was  secret  sin  dealt  with  so  faithfully  as  his. 

And  now  Jesus,  as  He  looks  around,  says,  "  How 
hardly  shall  they  that  have  riches  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God."  But  the  disciples  were  amazed.  To 
the  ancient  Jew,  from  Abraham  to  Solomon,  riches 
appeared  to  be  a  sign  of  the  Divine  favour,  and  if  the 
pathetic  figure  of  Job  reminded  him  how  much  sorrow 
might  befall  the  just,  yet  the  story  showed  even  him  at 
the  end  more  prosperous  than  at  the  beginning.  In  the 
time  of  Jesus,  the  chiefs  of  their  religion  were  greedily 
using  their  position  as  a  means  of  amassing  enormous 
fortunes.  To  be  told  that  v/ealth  was  a  positive  hin- 
drance on  the  way  to  God  was  wonderful  indeed. 

When  Jesus  modified  His  utterance,  it  was  not  to 
correct  Himself,  like  one  who  had  heedlessly  gone 
beyond  His  meaning.  His  third  speech  reiterated 
the  first,  declaring  that  a  manifc".t  and  proverbial 
physical  impossibility  was   not  so  hard   as  for  a  rich 


Mark  X.  23-3 1  •]       ^'^^^O    THEN  CAN  BE   SAVED?  2S3 

man   to  enter  the   kingdom   of  God,   here  or  hereafter. 
But   He   interposed  a  saying  which   both  explained  the 
first    one    and    enlarged    its    scope.       "Children"     He 
begins,    like    one    who    pitied    their    inexperience    and 
dealt  gently  with    their    perplexities,    "  Children,    how 
hard  is  it  for  them  that  trust  in  riches  to  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God."      And  therefore  is  it   hard  for  all  the 
rich,  since  they  must  wrestle  against  this  temptation  to 
trust  in  their  possessions.      It  is  exactly  in  this  spirit 
that  St,  James,  who  quoted  Jesus  more  than  any  of  the 
later  writers  of  Scripture,   charges    the  rich  that  they 
be  not  high-minded,   nor  trust  in  uncertain  riches,  but 
in    the    living    God.       Immediately    before,  Jesus    had 
told  them  how  alone  the  kingdom  might    be  entered, 
even  by  becoming  as  little  children  ;  lowl}^  dependent, 
willing    to    receive    all    at    the    hands    of    a    superior. 
Would  riches  help  them  to  do  this  ?     Is  it  easier  to 
pray    for    daily     bread    when     one    has    much    goods 
laid    up   for    many  years  ?     Is    it    easier    to   feel   that 
God   alone    can    make    us   drink  of   true  pleasures  as 
of  a  river,  when   a  hundred  luxuries  and  indulgences 
lull  us  in  sloth  or  allure  us  into  excess  ?     Hereupon 
the  disciples  perceived  what  was  more  alarming  still, 
that  not  alone  do  rich  men  trust  in  riches,   but  all  who 
confound  possessions  with  satisfaction,  all  who  dream 
that  to  have  much  is  to  be  blessed,  as  if  property  were 
character.      They    were    right.      We    may   follow    the 
guidance  of  Mammon  beckoning  from  afar,  with  a  trust 
as  idolatrous  as  if  we  held  his  hand.     But  who  could 
abide  a  principle   so  exacting  ?     It  was  the  revelation 
of  a  new  danger,  and  they  were  astonished  exceedingly, 
saying,  Then  who  can  be  saved  ?     Again  Jesus  looked 
upon  them,  with   solemn  but  reassuring  gaze.      They 
had    learned    the    secret   of   the   new    life,   the   natural 


284  GOSPEL   OF  ST.    MARK. 

impossibility  throwing  us  back  in  helpless  appeal  to 
the  powers  of  the  world  to  come.  "  With  men  it  is 
impossible,  but  not  with  God,  for  all  things  are  possible 
with  God." 

Peter,  not  easily  nor  long  to  be  discouraged,  now  saw 
ground  for  hope.  If  the  same  danger  existed  for  rich 
and  poor,  then  either  might  be  encouraged  by  having 
surmounted  it,  and  the  apostles  had  done  what  the  rich 
man  failed  to  do — they  had  left  all  and  followed  Jesus. 
The  claim  has  provoked  undue  censure,  as  if  too  much 
were  made  out  of  a  very  trifling  sacrifice,  a  couple 
of  boats  and  a  paltry  trade.  But  the  objectors  have 
missed  the  point ;  the  apostles  really  broke  away  from 
the  service  of  the  world  wdien  they  left  their  nets  and 
followed  Jesus.  Their  world  was  perhaps  a  narrow 
one,  but  He  Who  reckoned  two  mites  a  greater  offering 
than  the  total  of  the  gifts  of  many  rich  casting  in  much, 
was  unlikely  to  despise  a  fisherman  or  a  publican  who 
laid  all  his  living  upon  the  altar.  The  fault,  if  fault 
there  were,  lay  rather  in  the  satisfaction  with  which 
Peter  contemplates  their  decision  as  now  irrevocable  and 
secure,  so  that  nothing  remained  except  to  claim  the 
reward,  which  St.  Matthew  tells  us  he  very  distinctly 
did.  The  young  man  should  have  had  treasure  in 
heaven  :  what  then  should  they  have  ? 

But  in  truth,  their  hardest  battles  with  worldliness 
lay  still  before  them,  and  he  who  thought  he  stood  might 
well  take  heed  lest  he  fell.  They  would  presently  unite 
in  censuring  a  woman's  costly  gift  to  Him,  for  Whom 
they  professed  to  have  surrendered  all.  Peter  himself 
would  shrink  from  his  Master's  side.  And  what  a  satire 
upon  this  confident  claim  would  it  have  been,  could  the 
lieart  of  Judas  then  and  there  have  been  revealed  to 
them. 


Mark  X.  23-31.]      WHOTHEN  CAN  BE   SA  VED  ?  285 

The  answer  of  our  Lord  is  sufficiently  remarkable. 
St  Matthew  tells  how  frankly  and  fully  He  acknowledged 
their  collective  services,  and  what  a  large  reward  He 
promised,  when  they  should  sit  with  Him  on  thrones, 
fudo-ipg  tlieir  nation.  So  far  was  that  generous  heart 
from  weighing  their  losses  in  a  worldly  scale,  or  criti- 
cizing the  form  of  a  demand  which  was  not  all  un- 
reasonable. 

But  St    Mark  lays  exclusive  stress  upon  other  ana 
sobering  considerations,  which    also  St.    Matthew  has 

recorded. 

There  is  a  certain  tone  of  egoism  in  the  words,  "  Lo, 

we  what  shall  we  have?"    And  Jesus  corrects  this 

in  the  gentlest  way,  by  laying  down  such  a  general  rule 

as  implies  that  many  others  will  do  the  same,  "  there  is 

no  man  "  whose  self  sacrifice  shall  go  without  its  reward. 

Secondary  and  lower  motives  begin  to  mingle  with 

the  generous  ardour  of   self-sacrifice  as  soon  as   it  is 

careful  to  record  its  losses,  and  inquire  about  its  wages. 

Such  motives  are  not  absolutely  forbidden,  but  they  must 

never  push  into  the  foremost  place.     The  crown  of  glory 

animated  and  sustained  St.  Paul,  but  it  was  for  Christ, 

and  not  for  this  that  he  suffered  the  loss  of  all  things. 

Jesus  accordingly  demands  purity  of  motive.  The 
sacrifice  must  not  be  for  ambition,  even  with  aspirations 
prolonged  across  the  frontiers  of  eternity  :  it  must  be 
alto-ether  "  for  My  sake  and  for  the  gospel's  sake. 
And^'here  we  observe  once  more  the  portentous  demand 
of  Christ's  person  upon  His  followers.  They  are  ser- 
vants of  no  ethical  or  theological  system,  however  lofty. 
Christ  does  not  regard  Himself  and  them,  as  alir.e 
devoted  to  some  cause  above  and  external  to  them  all. 
To  Him  they  are  to  be  consecrated,  and  to  the  gospel, 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  is  the  story  of  His  Life,  Death 


286  GOSFEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

and  Resurrection.  For  Him  they  are  to  break  the 
clearest  and  strongest  of  earthly  ties.  He  had  just  pro- 
claimed how  indissoluble  was  the  marriage  bond.  No 
man  should  sever  those  whom  God  had  joined.  But  St. 
Luke  informs  us  that  to  forsake  even  a  wife  for  Christ's 
sake,  was  a  deed  worthy  of  being  rewarded  an  hundred- 
fold. Nor  does  He  mention  any  higher  being  in  whose 
name  the  sacrifice  is  demanded.  Now  this  is  at  least 
implicitly  the  view  of  His  own  personality,  which  some 
profess  to  find  only  in  St  John. 

Again,  there  was  perhaps  an  undertone  of  complaint 
in  Peter's  question,  as  if  no  compensation  for  all  their 
sacrifices  were  hitherto  bestowed.  What  should  their 
compensation  be?  But  Christ  declares  that  losses  en- 
dured for  Him  are  abundantly  repaid  on  earth,  in  this 
present  time,  and  even  amid  the  fires  of  persecution. 
Houses  and  lands  are  replaced  by  the  consciousness  of  in- 
violable shelter  and  inexliaustible  provision.  "Whither 
wilt  thou  betake  thyself  to  find  covert  ?  "  asks  the  menac- 
ing cardinal ;  but  Luther  answers,  "  Under  the  heaven 
of  God."  And  if  dearest  friends  be  estranged,  or  of 
necessity  abandoned,  then,  in  such  times  of  higli  attain- 
ment and  strong  spiritual  insight,  membership  in  the 
Divine  family  is  felt  to  be  no  unreal  tie,  and  earthly 
relationships  are  well  recovered  in  the  vast  fraternity 
of  souls.  Brethren,  and  sisters,  and  mothers,  are  thus 
restored  an  hundredfold  ;  but  although  a  father  is  also 
lost,  we  do  not  hear  that  a  hundred  fathers  shall  be 
given  back,  for  in  the  spiritual  family  that  place  is 
reserved  for  One. 

Lastly,  Jesus  reminded  them  that  the  race  was  not 
vet  over ;  that  many  first  shall  be  last  and  the  last  first. 
We  know  how  Judas  b}^  transgression  fell,  and  how  the 
persecuting  Saul   became  not  a  whit  behind  the  very 


Markx.35-40.]     CHRISTS   CUP  AND   BAPTISM.  287 

chiefest  ?postle.  But  this  word  remains  for  the  warning 
and  incitement  of  all  Christians,  even  unto  the  end  of 
the  world.     There  are  "  many  "  such. 

Next  after  this  warning,  comes  yet  another  prediction 
of  His  own  suffering,  with  added  circumstances  of 
horror.  Would  they  who  were  now  first  remain  faith- 
ful ?  or  should  another  take  their  bishopric  ? 

With  a  darkening  heart  Judas  heard,  and  made  his 
choice.  „__^___ 

[Mark  x.  32-34.     See  Mark  viii.  31,  p.  219.] 

CHRIsrS  CUP  AND  BAPTISM. 

•'  And  there  came  near  unto  him  James  and  John,.the  sons  of  Zebedee, 
sayina  unto  him,  Master,  we  would  that  Thou  shouldst  do  for  us  what- 
soeve!-  we  shall  ask  of  Thee.  And  He  said  unto  them,  What  would  ye 
I  should  do  for  you  ?  And  they  said  unto  Him,  Grant  unto  us  that  we  rnay 
sit  one  on  Thy  right  hand,  and  one  on  I'hy  left  hand,  in  Thy  glory.  But 
Tesus  said  unto  them.  Ye  knosv  not  what  ye  ask.  Are  ye  able  to  drink 
the  cup  that  I  drink?  or  to  be  baptized  with  the  baptism  that  I  am 
baptized  with  ?  And  they  said  unto  Him,  We  are  able.  And  Jesus  said 
unto  them,  The  cup  that  I  drink  ye  shall  drink  ;  and  with  the  baptism 
that  I  am  baptized  withal  shall  ye  be  baptized  :  but  to  sit  on  Uy  right 
hand  or  on  My  left  hand  is  not  Mine  to  give  :  but  it  is  for  them  for  whom 
it  hath  been  prepared."— Mark  x.  35-40  (R.V.). 

We  learn  from  St.  Matthew  that  Salome  was  associated 
with  her  sons,  and  was  indeed  the  chief  speaker  in  the 
earlier  part  of  this  incident. 

And  her  request  has  commonly  been  regarded  as  the 
mean  and  shortsighted  intrigue  of  an  ambitious  woman, 
recklessly  snatching  at  an  advantage  for  her  family,  and 
unconscious  of  the  stern  and  steep  road  to  honour  in 
the  kingdom  of  Jesus. 

Nor  can  we  deny  that  her  prayer  was  somewhat  pre- 
sumptuous, or  that  it  was  especially  unbecoming  to  aim 


2S8  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    AIARk'. 

at  entangling  her  Lord  in  a  blindfold  promise,  desiring 
Him  to  do  sometliing  undefined,  "  whatsoever  we  shall 
ask  of  Thee.  "  Jesus  was  too  discreet  to  answer  other- 
wise than,  "What  would  ye  that  I  should  do  for  you?" 
And  when  they  asked  for  the  chief  seats  in  the  glory 
that  was  yet  to  be  their  Master's,  no  wonder  that  the 
Ten  hearing  of  it,  had  indignation.  But  Christ's  an- 
swer, and  the  gentle  manner  in  which  He  explains  His 
refusal,  when  a  sharp  rebuke  is  what  we  would  expect 
to  read,  alike  suggest  that  there  may  have  been  some 
softening,  half-justifying  circumstance.  And  this  we 
find  in  the  period  at  which  the  daring  request  was  made. 

It  was  on  the  road,  during  the  last  journey,  when  a 
panic  had  seized  the  company  ;  and  our  Lord,  appar- 
ently out  of  the  strong  craving  for  sympathy  which 
possesses  the  noblest  souls,  had  once  more  told  the 
Twelve  what  insults  and  cruel  sufferings  lay  before  Him. 
It  was  a  time  for  deep  searching  of  hearts,  for  the 
craven  to  go  back  and  walk  no  more  with  Him,  and  for 
the  traitor  to  think  of  making  His  own  peace,  at  any 
price,  with  His  Master's  foes. 

But  this  dauntless  woman  could  see  the  clear  sky 
beyond  the  storm.  Her  sons  shall  be  loyal,  and  win 
the  prize,  whatever  be  the  hazard,  and  however  long 
the  struggle. 

Ignorant  and  rash  she  may  have  been,  but  it  was  no 
base  ambition  which  chose  such  a  moment  to  declare 
its  unshaken  ardour,  and  claim  distinction  in  the  king- 
dom for  which  so  much  must  be  endured. 

And  when  the  stern  price  was  plainly  stated,  she  and 
her  children  Vv-ere  not  startled,  they  conceived  them- 
selves able  for  the  baptism  and  the  cup ;  and  little  as 
tlicy  dreamed  of  the  coldness  of  the  waters,  and  the 
bitterness  of   the  draught,  yet   Jesus  did  not    declare 


Mavkx.  35-40.]      CHIi/SrS   CUP  AND   BAPTISM.  289 


them   to  be  deceived.      He  said,  Ye  shall   indeed  share 

these. 

Nor  can  we  doubt  that  their  faith  and  loyalty  re- 
freshed His  soul  amid  so  much  that  was  sad  and  self- 
ish. He  knew  indeed  on  what  a  dreadful  seat  He  was 
soon  to  claim  His  kingdom,  and  who  should  sit  upon 
His  right  hand  and  His  left.  These  could  not  follow 
Him  now,  but  they  should  follow  Him  hereafter- 
one  by  the  brief  pang  of  the  earliest  apostolic  martyr- 
dom, and  the  other  by  the  longest  and  sorest  expe- 
rience of  that  faithless  and  perverse  generation. 

I.  Very  significant  is  the  test  of  worth  which  Jesus 
propounds    to    them :     not    successful    service  but  en- 
durance;  not  the  active  but  the  passive  graces.      It  is 
not  our  test,  except  in  a  few  brilliant  and  conspicuous 
martyrdoms.     The  Church,  like  the  world,  has  crowns 
for  learning,  eloquence,  energy  ;  it  applauds  the  force 
by  which  great  things   are  done.     The  reformer  who 
abolishes  an  abuse,  the  scholar  who  defends  a  doctrine, 
the  orator  who  sways  a  multitude,  and  the  missionary 
who  adds  a  new  tribe  to  Christendom,— all  these  are 
sure  of  honour.      Our  loudest  plaudits  are  not  for  sim- 
ple men  and  women,   but  for  high  station,  genius,  and 
success.      But  the  Lord  looketh  upon  the  heart,  not  the 
brain  or  the  hand;  He  values  the  worker,  not  the  work  ; 
the  love,  not  the  achievement.     And,  therefore,  one  of 
the  tests  He  constantly  applied  was  this,  the  capability 
for    noble    endurance.      We    ourselves,    in    our    saner 
moments,   can   judge  whether   it  demands  more  grace 
to  refute  a  heretic,    or  to  sustain  the   long  inglorious 
agonies  of  some  disease  which  slowly  gnaws  away  the 
heart  of  life.     And  doubtless  among  the  heroes  for  whom 
Christ  is  twining  immortal  garlands,   there  is  many  a 
pale  and  shattered    creature,    nerveless  and  unstrung, 

19    , 


290  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

tossing  on  a  mean  bed,  breathing  in  imperfect  English 
loftier  praises  than  many  an  anthem  which  resounds 
through  cathedral  arches,  and  laying  on  the  altar  of 
burnt  sacrifice  all  he  has,  even  his  poor  frame  itself,  to 
be  racked  and  tortured  without  a  murmur.  Culture  has 
never  heightened  his  forehead  nor  refined  his  face  :  we 
look  at  him,  but  little  dream  what  the  angels  see,  or 
how  perhaps  because  of  such  an  one  the  great  places 
which  Salome  sought  were  not  Christ's  to  give  away 
except  only  to  them  for  whom  it  was  prepared.  For 
these,  at  last,  the  reward  shall  be  His  to  give,  as  He 
said,  "To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  give  to  sit  down 
v/ith  Me  upon  My  throne." 

2.  Significant  also  are  the  phrases  by  which  Christ 
expressed  the  sufferings  of  His  people.  Some,  which 
it  is  possible  to  escape,  are  voluntarily  accepted  for 
Christ'.s  sake,  as  when  the  Virgin  mother  bowed  her  head 
to  slander  and  scorn,  and  said,  "  Behold  the  servant  of 
the  Lord,  be  it  unto  me  according  to  Thy  word."  Such 
sufferings  are  a  cup  deliberately  raised  by  one's  own 
hand  to  the  reluctant  lips.  Into  other  sufferings  we 
are  plunged  :  they  are  inevitable.  Malice,  ill-health,  or 
bereavement  plies  the  scourge  ;  they  come  on  us  like 
the  rush  of  billows  in  a  storm  ;  they  are  a  deep  and 
dreadful  baptism.  Or  we  may  say  that  some  woes  are 
external,  visible,  we  are  seen  to  be  submerged  in  them  ; 
but  others  are  like  the  secret  ingredients  of  a  bitter 
draught,  which  the  lips  know,  but  the  eye  of  the 
bystander  cannot  analyze.  But  there  is  One  Who 
knows  and  rewards  ;  even  the  Man  of  Sorrows  Who 
said.  The  cup  which  My  heavenly  Father  giveth,  shall 
1  not  drink  it  ? 

Now  it  is  this  standard  of  excellence,  announced  by 
Jesus,  which  shall  give  high  place  to  many  of  the  poor 


Llaikx.  3S-40.]     CHRIST'S   CUP  AND   BAPTISM.  291 


and  ignorant  and  weak,  when  rank  shall  perish,  when 
tongues  shall  cease,  and  when  our  knowledge,  in  the 
blaze  of  new  revelations,  shall  utterly  vanish  away,  not 
quenched,  but  absorbed  like  the  starlight  at  noon. 

3.  We  observe  again  that  men  are  not  said  to  drink 
of  another  cup  as  bitter,  or  to  be  baptized  in  other 
waters  as  chill,  as  tried  their  Master  ;  but  to  share 
His  very  baptism  and  His  cup.  Not  that  we  can  add 
anything  to  His  all-sufficient  sacrifice.  Our  goodness 
extendeth  not  to  God.  But  Christ's  work  availed  not 
only  to  reconcile  us  to  the  Father,  but  also  to  elevate 
and  consecrate  sufferings  which  would  otherwise  have 
been  penal  and  degrading.  Accepting  our  sorrows  in 
the  grace  of  Christ,  and  receiving  Him  into  our  hearts, 
then  our  sufferings  fill  up  that  which  is  lacking  of  the 
afflictions  of  Christ  (Col.  i.  24),  and  at  the  last  He  will 
say,  when  the  glories  of  heaven  are  as  a  robe  around 
Him,  "  I  w^as  hungry,  naked,  sick,  and  in  prison  in  the 
person  of  the  least  of  these." 

Hence  it  is  that  a  special  nearness  to  God  has  ever 
been  felt  in  holy  sorrow,  and  in  the  pain  of  hearts 
which,  amid  all  clamours  and  tumults  of  the  world, 
are  hushed  and  calmed  by  the  example  of  Him  Who 
was  led  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter. 

And  thus  they  are  not  v/rong  who  speak  of  the 
Sacrament  of  Sorrow,  for  Jesus,  in  this  passage,  applies 
to  it  the  language  of  both  sacraments. 

It  is  a  harmless  superstition  even  at  the  worst  which 
brings  to  the  baptism  of  many  noble  houses  water  from 
the  stream  where  Jesus  was  baptized  by  John.  But 
here  we  read  of  another  and  a  dread  baptism,  conse- 
crated by  the  fellowship  of  Christ,  in  depths  which 
plummet  never  sounded,  and  into  which  the  neophyte 
goes  down  sustained  by  no  mortal  hand. 


292  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARA'. 

Here  is  also  the  communion  of  an  awful  cap.  No 
human  minister  sets  it  in  our  trembling  hand ;  no 
human  voice  asks,  "Are  ye  able  to  drink  the  cup  tliat  I 
drink?"  Our  lips  grow  pale,  and  our  blood  is  chill; 
but  faith  responds,  "We  are  able."  And  the  tender 
and  pitying  voice  of  our  Master,  too  loving  to  spare 
one  necessary  pang,  responds  with  the  word  of  doom  : 
"  The  cup  that  I  drink  ye  shall  drink  ;  and  with  the 
baptism  that  I  am  baptized  withal  shall  ye  be  baptized." 
Even  so  :  it  is  enougli  for  the  servant  that  he  be  as  his 
Master. 


TI-IF.   LA  IF  OF  GREATNESS 

"  And  when  the  ten  heard  it,  they  began  to  be  moved  with  indigna- 
tion concerning  James  and  John.  And  Jesus  called  them  to  Him,  and 
saith  unto  them.  Ye  know  that  they  which  are  accounted  to  rule  over 
the  Gentiles  lord  it  over  them ;  and  their  great  ones  exercise  authority 
over  them.  But  it  is  not  so  among  you  :  but  whosoever  would  become 
great  among  you,  shall  be  your  minister  :  and  whosoever  would  be  first 
among  you,  shall  be  servant  of  all.  For  verily  the  Son  of  man  came 
not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  His  life  a  ranbom 
for  many," — Mark  x.  41-45  (R.V.). 

When  the  Ten  heard  that  James  and  John  had  asked 
'for  the  chief  places  in  the  kingdom,  the}''  proved,  by 
their  indignation,  that  they  also  nourished  the  same 
ambitious  desires  which  they  condemned.  But  Jesus 
called  them  to  Him,  for  it  vvas  not  there  that  angry 
passions  had  broken  out.  And  happy  are  they  who 
hear  and  obey  tlis  summons  to  approach,  when, 
removed  from  His  purifying  gaze  by  carelessness  or 
wilfulness,  ambition  and  anger  begin  to  excite  their 
hearts. 

Now  Jesus  addressed  them  as  being  avrare  of  their 
hidden  emulation.     And  His  treatment  of  it  is  remark- 


Mark  X.  41  •45-]      ^-^^^   ^^  ^^'^   ^^  GREATNESS.  293 

able.  He  neither  condemns,  nor  praises  it,  but  simply 
teaches  them  w  hat  Christian  greatness  m.eans,  ar.d  the 
conditions  on  v/hich  it  may  be  won. 

The  greatness  of  the  world  is  measured  by  authority 
and  lordhness.  Even  there  it  is  an  uncertain  test;  for 
the  most  real  power  is  often  wielded  by  some  anony- 
mous thinker,  or  by  som.e  craft}^  intriguer,  content  with 
the  substance  of  authority  while  his  puppet  enjoys  the 
trappings.  Something  of  this  may  perhaps  be  detected 
in  the  words,  "They  which  are  accounted  to  rule  over 
the  Gentiles  lord  it  over  them."  And  it  is  certain  that 
"their  great  ones  exercise  authority  over  them."  But 
the  Divine  greatness  is  a  m.eek  and  gentle. influence. 
To  minister  to  the  Church  is  better  than  to  command  it, 
and  whoever  desires  to  be  the  chief  must  become  the 
servant  of  all.  Thus  shall  whatever  is  vainglorious 
and  egoistic  in  our  ambition  defeat  itself;  the  more 
one  struggles  to  be  great  the  more  he  is  disqualified  : 
even  benefits  rendered  to  others  with  this  object  vvill 
not  really  be  service  done  for  them  but  for  self;  nor 
v/ill  any  calculated  assumption  of  humility  help  one  to 
become  indeed  the  least,  being  but  a  subtle  assertion 
that  he  is  great,  and  like  the  last  place  in  an  ecclesiastical 
procession,  when  occupied  in  a  self-conscious  spirit. 
And  thus  it  comes  to  pass  that  the  Church  knows  x^ry 
indistinctly  who  are  its  greatest  sons.  As  the  gift  of 
two  mites  by  the  w^idow  was  greater  than  th>at  of  large 
sums  by  the  rich,  so  a  small  service  done  in  the  spirit 
of  perfect  self-effacement, — a  service  which  thought 
neither  of  its  merit  nor  of  its  reward,  but  only  of  a 
brother's  need,  shall  be  more  in  the  day  of  reckoning 
than  sacrifices  which  are  celebrated  by  the  historians 
and  sung  by  the  poets  of  the  Church.  For  it  may  avail 
nothing  to  give  all  my  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  my 


294-  ■  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

body  to  be  burned  ;  while  a  cup  of  cold  water,  rendered 
by  a  lo3'al  hand,  shall  in  no  wise  lose  its  reward. 

Thus  Jesus  throws  open  to  all  men  a  competition  which 
has  no  charms  for  flesh  and  blood.  And  as  He  spoke  of 
the  entry  upon  His  service,  bearing  a  cross,  as  being  the 
following  of  Himself,  so  He  teaches  us,  that  the  great- 
ness of  lowliness,  to  which  we  are  called,  is  His  own 
greatness.  "  For  verily  the  Son  of  Man  came  not  to 
be  ministered  unto  but  to  minister."  Not  here,  not  in 
this  tarnished  and  faded  world,  would  He  Who  was 
from  everlasting  with  the  Father  have  sought  His  own 
ease  or  honour.  But  the  physician  came  to  them  that 
were  sick,  and  the  good  Shepherd  followed  His  lost 
sheep  until  He  found  it.  Now  this  comparison  proves 
that  we  also  are  to  carry  forward  the  same  restoring 
v.ork,  or  else  we  might  infer  that,  because  He  came 
to  minister  to  us,  we  may  accept  ministration  with  a 
good  heart.  It  is  not  so.  We  are  the  light  and  the 
salt  of  the  earth,  and  must  suffer  with  Him  that  we 
may  also  be  i^,lorified  together. 

But  He  added  another  memorable  phrase.  He  came 
"  to  give  His  life  a  ransom  in  exchange  for  many." 
It  is  not  a  question,  therefore,  of  the  inspiring  example 
of  His  life.  Something  has  been  forfeited  which  must 
be  redeemed,  and  Christ  has  paid  the  price.  Nor  is  this 
done  only  on  behalf  of  many,  but  in  exchange  for  them. 

So  then  the  crucifixion  is  not  a  sad  incident  in  a 
great  career ;  it  is  the  mark  towards  which  Jesus 
moved,  the  power  by  which  He  redeemed  the  world. 

Surel}',  we  recognise  here  the  echo  of  the  prophet's 
words,  "  Thou  shalt  make  Flis  soul  an  offering  for  sin 
...  by  His  knowledge  shall  My  righteous  servant 
justify  many,  arid  He  shall  bear  their  iniquities  '' 
(Isa.  liii.  lo,  1 1). 


Mark  X.  46-52.]  BARTIAL-EUS.  295 

The  elaborated  doctrine  of  the  atonement  may  not 
perhaps  be  here,  much  less  the  subtleties  of  theologians 
who  have,  to  their  own  satisfaction,  known  the  mind  of 
the  Almighty  to  peifection.  But  it  is  beyond  reason- 
able controversy  that  in  this  verse  Jesus  declared  that 
His  sufterings  were  vicarious,  and  endured  in  the 
sinners'  stead. 

BARTIRL^US. 

"  And  they  come  to  Jericho  :  and  as  He  went  out  from  Jericho,  with 
His  disciples  and  a  great  multitude,  the  son  of  Tunceus,  Bartimoeus,  a 
blind  beggar,  was  sitting  by  the  way  side.  And  when  he  heard  that  it 
was  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  he  began  to  cry  out,  and  say,  Jesus,  Thou  son 
of  David,  have  mercy  on  me.  And  many  rebuked  him,  that  he  should 
hold  his  peace  :  but  he  cried  out  the  more  a  great  deal.  Thou  son  of 
David,  have  mercy  on  me.  And  Jesus  stood  still,  and  said,  Call  ye 
him.  And  they  called  the  blind  man,  saying  unto  him,  Be  of  good 
cheer  ;  rise.  He  calleth  thee.  And  he,  casting  away  his  garment, 
sprang  up,  and  came  to  Jesus.  And  Jesus  answered  him,  and  said, 
What  wilt  thou  that  I  should  do  unto  thee?  And  the  blind  man  said 
unto  Ilirn,  Rabboni,  that  I  may  receive  my  sight.  And  Jesus  said  unto 
him,  Go  thy  way  ;  thy  faith  hath  made  thee  whole.  And  straightway 
he  received  his  sight,  and  followed  Him  in  the  way." — Mark  x.  46-52 
(R.V.). 

There  is  no  miracle  in  the  Gospels  of  which  the 
accounts  are  so  hard  to  reconcile  as  those  of  the 
healing"  of  the  blind  at  Jericho. 

It  is  a  small  thing  that  St.  Matthew  mentions  two 
blind  men,  while  St.  Mark  and  St.  Luke  are  only  aware 
of  one.  The  same  is  true  of  the  demoniacs  at  Gadara, 
and  it  is  easily  understood  that  only  an  eyewitness 
should  remember  the  obscure  comrade  of  a  remarkable 
and  energetic  man,  who  would  have  spread  far  and 
wide  the  particulars  of  his  own  cure.  The  fierce  and 
dangerous  demoniac  of  Gadara  was  just  such  a  man, 
and  there  is  ample  evidence  of  energy  and  vehemence 


296  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

in  the  brief  account  of  Cartimceus.  What  is  really 
perplexing  is  that  St.  Luke  places  the  miracle  at  the 
entrance  to  Jericho,  but  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark, 
as  Jesus  came  out  of  it.  It  is  too  forced  and  violent 
a  theory  which  speaks  of  an  old  and  a  new  town,  so 
close  together  that  one  was  entered  and  the  other  left 
at  the  same  time. 

It  is  possible  that  there  were  two  events,  and  the 
success  of  one  sufferer  at  the  entrance  to  the  town  led 
others  to  use  the  same  importunities  at  the  exit.  And 
this  would  not  be  much  more  remarkable  than  the  two 
miracles  of  the  loaves,  or  the  two  miraculous  draughts 
of  fish.  It  is  also  possible,  though  unlikely,  that  the 
same  supplicant  who  began  his  appeals  without  success 
when  Jesus  entered,  resumed  His  entreaties,  with 
a  comrade,  at  the  gate  by  which  He  left. 

Such  difliculties  exist  in  all  the  best  authenticated 
histories  :  discrepancies  of  the  kind  arise  continually 
between  the  evidence  of  the  most  trustworthy  witnesses 
in  courts  of  justice.  And  the  student  who  is  humble 
as  well  as  devout  will  not  shut  his  eyes  against  facts, 
merely  because  they  are  perplexing,  but  will  remember 
that  they  do  nothing  to  shake  the  solid  narrative  itself. 

As  we  read  St.  Mark's  account,  we  are  struck  by  the 
vividness  of  the  whole  picture,  and  especially  by  the 
robust  personality  of  the  blind  man.  The  scene  is 
neither  Jerusalem,  the  city  of  the  Pharisees,  nor 
Galilee,  where  .  they  have  persistently  sapped  the 
popularity  of  Jesus.  Eastward  of  the  Jordan,  He  has 
spent  the  last  peaceful  and  successful  weeks  of  His 
brief  and  stormy  career,  and  Jericho  lies  upon  the 
borders  of  that  friendly  district.  Accordingly  something 
is  here  of  the  old  enthusiasm  :  a  great  multitude  moves 
along  with  His  disciples  to  the  gates,  and  the  rushing 


Mark  X.  46-52.]  BARY'UMAlUS.  297 

concourse  excites  the  curiosity  of  the  blind  son  of 
Timaeus.  So  does  many  a  rehgious  movement  lead  to 
inquiry  and  explanation  far  and  wide.  But  when  he, 
sitting  by  the  way,  and  unable  to  follow,  knows  that 
the  great  Healer  is  at  hand,  but  only  in  passing,  and 
for  a  moment,  his  interest  suddenly  becomes  personal 
and  ardent,  and  "he  began  to  cry  out"  (the  expression 
implies  that  his  supplication,  beginning  as  the  crowd 
drew  near,  was  not  one  utterance  but  a  prolonged 
appeal),  "  and  to  say,  Jesus,  Thou  Son  of  David, 
have  mercy  on  me."  To  the  crowd  his  outcry  seemed 
to  be  only  an  intrusion  upon  One  Who  was  too  rapt, 
too  heavenly,  to  be  disturbed  by  the  sorrows  of  a  blind 
beggar.  But  that  was  not  the  view  of  Bartimaeus, 
W'hose  personal  affliction  gave  him  the  keenest  interest 
in  those  verses  of  the  Old  Testament  which  spoke  of 
opening  the  blind  eyes.  If  he  did  not  understand 
their  exact  force  as  prophecies,  at  least  they  satisfied 
him  that  his  petition  could  not  be  an  insult  to  the 
great  Prophet  of  Whom  just  such  actions  were  told,  for 
Whose  visit  he  had  often  sighed,  and  Who  was  now 
fast  going  b}^  perhaps  for  ever.  The  picture  is  one  of 
great  eagerness,  bearing  up  against  great  discourage- 
ment. We  catch  the  spirit  of  the  man  as  he  inquires 
what  the  multitude  means,  as  the  epithet  of  his  in- 
formants, Jesus  of  Nazareth,  changes  on  his  lips  into 
Jesus,  Thou  Son  of  David,  as  he  persists,  without 
any  vision  of  Christ  to  encourage  him,  and  amid  the 
rebukes  of  many,  in  crying  out  the  more  a  great 
deal,  although  pain  is  deepening  every  moment  in  his 
accents,  and  he  will  presently  need  cheering.  The 
ear  of  Jesus  is  quick  for  such  a  call,  and  He  stops. 
He  does  not  raise  His  own  voice  to  summon  him, 
but  teaches  a  lesson  of  humanity  to  those  who  would 


298  GOSFEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

fain  have  silenced  tlie  appeal  of  anguish,  and  says,  Call 
ye  him.  And  they  obe}'  with  a  couitier-like  change  of 
tone,  saying,  Be  of  good  cheer,  rise.  He  calleth  thee. 
And  Bartimseus  cannot  endure  even  the  slight  hindrance 
of  his  loose  garment,  but  flings  it  aside,  and  rises  and 
comes  to  Jesus,  a  pattern  of  the  importunity  which 
prays  and  never  faints,  which  perseveres  amid  all 
discouragement,  which  adverse  public  opinion  cannot 
hinder.  And  the  Lord  asks  of  him  almost  exactly  the 
same  question  as  recently  of  James  and  John,  What 
wilt  thou  that  I  should  do  for  thee  ?  But  in  his  reply 
there  is  no  aspiring  pride  :  misery  knows  how  precious 
are  the  common  gifts,  the  every-day  blessings  which  we 
hardly  pause  to  think  about ;  and  he  replies,  Rabboni, 
that  I  may  receive  my  sight.  It  is  a  glad  and  eager 
answer.  Many  a  petition  he  had  urged  in  vain  ;  and 
many  a  small  favour  had  been  discourteously  bestowed  ; 
but  Jesus,  Whose  tenderness  loves  to  commend  while 
He  blesses,  shares  with  him,  so  to  speak,  the  glory  of 
his  healing,  as  He  ansvs'ers.  Go  thy  way,  thy  faith  hath 
made  thee  whole.  By  thus  fixing  his  attention  upon 
his  own  part  in  the  miracle,  so  utterly  worthless  as  a 
contribution,  but  so  indispensable  as  a  condition,  Jesus 
taught  him  to  exercise  hereafter  the  same  gift  of  faith. 

"  Go  thy  way,"  He  said.  And  Bartimaeus  ''  followed 
Him  on  the  road."  Happy  is  that  man  whose  eyes 
are  open  to  discern,  and  his  heart  prompt  to  follow,  the 
print  of  those  holy  feet. 


CHAPTER   XL 

THE    TRIUMPHANT  ENTRY. 

"And  when  they  draw  nigh    unto  Jerusalem,  unto  Betbphase    and 
Bethany,  at  the  Mount  of  Olives,  He  sendeth  two  of  His  d.sc.ples,  and 
saith  unto  them,  Go  your  way  into  the  vi'lage  that  is  over  against  you  : 
and  straiohtway  as  ye  enter  into  it,  ye  shall  fiud  a  colt  lied,  whereon  no 
man  eve^  yet  sat ;  loose  him,  and  bring  him.     And  if  any  one  say  unto 
you  Whydoyethis?  say  ye.  The  Lord  hath  need  of  hun  ;  and  straight- 
way He  will  send  him  back  hither.     And  they  went  away,  and  found  a 
colt  tied  at  the  door  without  in  the  open  street;   and  tliey  loose  hnn. 
And  certaia  of  them  that  stood  there  srdd    unto  them    ^^  hat  do  ye, 
loosing  the  colt?     And  tliey  said  unto  them  even  as  Jesus  had  said 
and  they  let  them  go.      And  they  bring  the  colt  unto  Jesus,  and     a 
on  him  their  garments  ;  and  He  sat  upon  him.     And  rnany  spread   heir 
;:rments  upc^.  the  way  ;  and  others  branches,  which  they  had  cut    rom 
fhe  fiel.ls.     And  they  that  went  before,  and  they  that  followed    cued 
Hosanna  :  Blessed  is  He  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  :  Blessed 
"the  kingdom  that  cometh,  the  kingdcn  of  our  father  David  :   Hosanna 
n  the  highest.     And  He  entered  into  Jerusalem,  into  the^  temple  ;  and 
when  He  had  looked  round  about  upon  all  things,  it  being  now  even- 
tide,  He  went  out    unto  Bethany  with  the   twelve.  -Mark  xi.  i-ii 
(K.V.). 

J-  ESUS  had  now  come  near  to  Jerusalem,  into  what 
was  possibly  the  sacred  district  of  Bethphage,  of 
which,  in  that  case,  Bethany  was  the  border  vihage. 
Not  without  pausing  here  (as  we  learn  from  the  fourth 
Gospel)  yet  as  the  next  step  forward,  He  sent  two  of 
His  disciples  to  untie  and  brmg  back  an  ass,  which  was 
fastened  with  her  colt  at  a  spot  which  He  muiutely 
described.      Unless  they  were  challenged  they  should 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


simply  bring  the  animals  away;  but  if  any  one  remonstra- 
ted, they  should  answer,  "  The  Lord  hath  need  of  them," 
and  thereupon  the  owner  would  not  only  acquiesce, 
but  send  them.  In  fact  they  are  to  make  a  requisition, 
such  as  the  State  often  institutes  for  horses  and  cattle 
during  a  campaign,  when  private  rights  must  give  way 
to  a  national  exigency.  And  this  masterful  demand, 
this  abrupt  and  decisive  rejoinder  to  a  natural  objection, 
not  arguing  nor  requesting,  but  demanding,  this  title 
which  they  are  bidden  to  give  to  Jesus,  by  which, 
standing  thus  alone,  He  is  rarely  described  in  Scripture 
(chiefly  in  the  later  Epistles,  when  the  remembrance  of 
His  earthly  style  gave  place  to  the  influence  of  habitual 
adoration),  all  this  preliminary  arrangement  makes  us 
conscious  of  a  change  of  tone,  of  ro^^alty  issuing  its 
mandates,  and  claiming  its  rights.  But  what  a  claim, 
what  a  requisition,  when  He  takes  the  title  of  Jehovah, 
and  yet  announces  His  need  of  the  colt  of  ah  ass.  It  is 
indeed  the  lov.'liest  of  all  memorable  processions  which 
He  plans,  and  yet,  in  its  ver}^  humility,  it  appeals  to 
ancient  prophecy,  and  says  unto  Zion  that  her  King 
cometh  unto  her.  The  monarchs  of  the  East  and  the 
captains  of  the  West  might  ride  upon  horses  as  for  war, 
but  the  King  of  Sion  should  come  unto  her  meek,  and 
sitting  upon  an  ass,  upon  a  colt,  the  foal  of  an  ass. 
Yet  there  is  fitness  and  dignity  in  the  use  of  "  a  colt 
whereon  never  man  sat,"  and  it  reminds  us  of  other 
facts,  such  as  that  He  was  the  firstborn  of  a  virgin 
mother,  and  rested  in  a  tomb  which  corruption  had 
never  soiled. 

Tims  He  comes  forth,  the  gentlest  of  the  miglity, 
v/ith  no  swords  gleaming  around  to  guard  Him,  or  to 
smite  the  foreigner  who  tramples  Israel,  or  the  worse 
foes  of  her  own  household.      Men  who  will  follow  such 


Markxi.  i-ii.]     THE    TRIUMPHANT  ENTRY.  301 

a  King  must  Li}^  aside  tlieir  vain  and  earthly  ambitions, 
and  awake  to  the  truth  that  spiritual  powers  are  grander 
than  any  which  violence  ever  grasped.  But  men  who 
will  not  follow  Him  shall  some  day  learn  the  same  lesson, 
perhaps  in  the  crash  of  their  reeling  commonwealth, 
perhaps  not  until  the  armies  of  heaven  follow  Him,  as 
He  goes  forth,  riding  now  upon  a  white  iiorse,  crowned 
with  many  diadems,  smiting  the  nations  with  a  sharp 
sword,  and  ruling  them  with  an  iron  rod. 

Lowly  though  His  procession  was,  yet  it  was  palpably 
a  royal  one.  When  Jehu  was  proclaimed  king  at 
Ramoth-Gilead,  the  captains  hastened  to  make  him  sit 
upon  the  garments  of  every  one  of  them,  expressing 
by  this  national  symbol  their  subjection.  Somewhat 
the  same  feeling  is  in  the  famous  anecdote  of  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  and  Queen  Elizabeth.  And  thus  the  disciples 
who  brought  the  ass  cast  on  him  their  garments,  and 
Jesus  sat  thereon,  and  man}'  spread  their  garments  in 
the  wa}^  Others  strewed  the  road  with  branches  ;  and 
as  they  went  they  cried  aloud  certain  verses  of  that  great 
song  of  triumph,  which  told  how  the  nations,  swarming 
like  bees,  were  quenched  like  the  light  fire  of  thorns, 
how  the  right  hand  of  the  Lord  did  valiantly,  how  the 
gates  of  righteousness  should  be  thrown  open  for  the 
righteous,  and,  more  significant  still,  how  the  stone 
which  the  builders  rejected  should  become  the  head- 
stone of  the  corner.  Often  had  Jesus  quoted  this 
saying  when  reproached  by  the  unbelief  of  the  rulers, 
and  now  the  people  rejoiced  and  were  glad  in  it,  as 
the}^  sang  of  His  salvation,  saying,  "  Llosanna,  blessed 
is  He  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  Blessed  is 
the  kingdom  that  cometh,  the  Kingdom  of  our  father 
David,  Hosanna  in  the  highest." 

Such  is  the  narrative  as  it  impressed  St.  Mark.     For 


302  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

his  purpose  it  mattered  nothing  that  Jerusalem  took 
no  part  in  the  rejoicings,  but  was  perplexed,  and  said. 
Who  is  this  ?  or  that,  when  confronted  by  this  some- 
what scornful  and  affecled  ignorance  of  the  capital,  the 
voice  of  Galilee  grew  weak,  and  proclaimed  no  longer 
the  advent  of  the  kingdom  of  David,  but  only  Jesus,  the 
prophet  of  Nazareth ;  or  that  the  Pharisees  in  the 
temple  avowed  their  disapproval,  while  contemptuously 
ignoring  the  Galilean  multitude,  by  inviting  Him  to 
reprove  some  children.  What  concerned  St.  Mark 
was  that  now,  at  last,  Jesus  openly  and  practically 
assumed  rank  as  a  monarch,  allowed  men  to  proclaim 
the  advent  of  His  kingdom,  and  proceeded  to  exercise 
its  rights  by  calling  for  the  surrender  of  property,  and 
by  cleansing  the  temple  with  a  scourge.  The  same 
avowal  of  kingship  is  almost  all  that  he  has  cared  to 
record  of  the  remarkable  scene  before  His  Roman 
judge. 

After  this  heroic  fashion  did  Jesus  present  Himself 
to  die.  Without  a  misleading  hope,  conscious  of  the 
hollowness  of  His  seeming  popularity,  weeping  for  the 
impending  ruin  of  the  glorious  city  whose  walls  were 
ringing  with  His  praise,  and  predicting  the  murderous 
triumph  of  the  crafty  faction  which  appears  so  help- 
less. He  not  only  refuses  to  recede  or  compromise, 
but  does  not  hesitate  to  advance  His  claims  in  a 
manner  entirely  new,  and  to  defy  the  utmost  animosity 
of  those  who  still  rejected  Him. 

After  such  a  scene  there  could  be  no  middle  course 
between  crushing  Him,  and  bowing  to  Him.  He  was 
no  longer  a  Teacher  of  doctrines,  however  revolutionary, 
but  an  Aspirant  to  practical  authority,  Who  must  be 
dealt  with  practically. 

There  was  evidence  also  of  His  intention  to  proceed 


Mark  xi.  12-14,  20-25.]     THE   BARREN  FIG-TREE.  303 

upon  this  new  line,  when  He  entered  into  the  temple, 
investigated  its  glaring  abuses,  and  only  left  it  for  the 
moment  because  it  was  now  eventide.  To-morrow  would 
show  more  of  His  designs. 

Jesus  is  still,  and  in  this  world,  King.  And  it  will 
hereafter  avail  us  nothing  to  have  received  His  doctrine, 
unless  we  have  taken  His  yoke. 

THE   BARREN  FIG-TREE. 

"  And  on  the  morrow,  when  they  were  come  out  from  Bethviny,  He 
hungered.  And  seeing  a  fig-tree  afar  off  having  leaves,  He  came,  if 
hajily  He  might  find  anything  thereon  :  and  when  He  came  to  it,  He 
found  nothing  but  lea\-es  ;  for  it  was  not  the  season  of  figs.  And  He 
answered  and  said  unto  it,  No  man  eat  fruit  from  thee  henceforward 
for  ever.      And  His  disciples  heard  it." 

"  And  as  they  passed  by  in  the  morning,  they  saw  the  fig-tree 
withered  away  from  the  roots.  And  Peter  calling  to  remembrance  saith 
unto  Him,  Rabbi,  behold,  the  fig-tree  which  Thou  cursedst  is  withered 
away.  And  Jesuj  answering  saith  unto  them,  Have  faith  in  God. 
Verily  I  say  unto  you.  Whosoever  shall  say  unto  this  mountain,  Be 
thou  taken  up  and  ca^t  into  the  sea  ;  and  shall  not  doubt  in  his  heart, 
but  shall  believe  that  what  he  saith  coineth  to  pass  ;  he  shall  have  it. 
Therefore  I  say  unto  you.  All  things  whatsoever  ye  pray  and  ask  for, 
believe  that  ye  have  received  them,  and  ye  shall  have  them.  And 
"whensoever  ye  stand  praying,  forgive,  if  ye  have  aught  against  any  one; 
that  your  Father  also  which  is  in  heaven  may  forgive  you  your  tres- 
passes."— JNlARK  xi.   12-14,  20-25  (I'^.V.). 

No  sooner  has  Jesus  claimed  His  kingdom,  than  He 
performs  His  first  and  only  miracle  of  judgment.  And 
it  is  certain  that  no  mortal,  informed  that  such  a 
miracle  was  impending,  could  have  gu'^ssed  where  the 
blow  would  fall.  In  this  miracle  an  element  is  pre- 
dominant which  exists  in  all,  since  it  is  wrought  as  an 
acted  dramatized  parable,  not  for  any  pliN'sical  advan- 
tage, but  wholly  for  the  instruction  which  it  conveys. 
Jesus  hungered  at  the  very  outset  of  a  day  of  toil,  as 


304  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

He  came  out  from  Bethany.  And  this  was  not  due  to 
povert}^,  since  the  disciples  there  had  recently  made 
Him  a  great  feast,  but  to  His  own  absorbing  ardour. 
The  zeal  of  God's  house,  which  He  had  seen  polluted 
and  was  about  to  cleanse,  had  either  left  Him  indifferent 
to  food  until  the  keen  air  of  morning  aroused  the  sense 
of  need,  or  else  it  had  detained  Him,  all  night  long,  in 
prayer  and  meditation  out  of  doors.  As  He  walks,  He 
sees  afar  off  a  lonely  fig-tree  covered  with  leaves,  and 
comes  if  haply  He  might  find  anything  thereon.  It  is 
true  that  figs  would  not  be  in  season  for  two  months, 
but  yet  they  ought  to  present  themselves  before  the 
leaves  did  ;  and  since  the  tree  was  precocious  in  the 
show  and  profusion  of  luxuriance,  it  ought  to  bear 
early  figs.  If  it  failed,  it  would  at  least  point  a  power- 
ful moral ;  and,  therefore,  when  only  leaves  appeared 
upon  it,  Jesus  cursed  it  with  perpetual  barrenness,  and 
passed  on.  Not  in  the  dusk  of  that  evening  as  they 
returned,  but  when  they  passed  by  again  in  the  morning 
the  blight  was  manifest,  the  tree  was  withered  from  its 
ver}'  roots. 

It  is  complained  that  b}'  this  act  Jesus  deprived  some 
one  of  his  propert}'.  But  the  same  retributive  justice 
of  which  this  v/as  an  expression  was  preparing  to 
blight,  presently,  all  the  possessions  of  all  the  nation. 
Was  this  unjust  ?  And  of  the  numberless  trees  that 
are  blasted  year  by  year,  why  should  the  loss  of  this 
one  only  be  resented  ?  Every  physical  injur}'  must  be 
intended  to  further  some  spiritual  end  ;  but  it  is  not 
often  that  the  purpose  is  so  clear,  and  the  lesson  so 
distinctl}'  learned. 

Others  blame  our  Lord's  word  of  sentence,  because 
a  tree,  not  being  a  moral  agent,  ought  not  to  be 
punished.     It  is  an  obvious  rejouider  that  neither  could 


Mark  xi.  12-14,  20-25.]      THE   BARREN  FIG-TREE.  305 

it  sufie;  pain  ;  that  the  whole  action  is  symboHc  ;  and 
that  we  ourselves  justify  the  Saviour's  method  of  ex- 
pression as  often  as  v/e  call  one  tree  "good"  and 
another  "bad,"  and  say  that  a  third  "ought"  to  bear 
fruit,  while  not  much  could  be  "expected  of"  a  fourth. 
It  should  rather  be  observed  that  in  this  word  of 
sentence  Jesus  revealed  His  tenderness.  It  would 
have  b^en  a  false  and  cruel  kindness  never  to  work 
any  mn-acle  except  of  compassion,  and  thus  to  suggest 
the  irference  that  He  could  never  strike,  whereas  indeed, 
before  that  generation  passed  away,  He  would  break 
His  eriemies  in  pieces  like  a  potter's  vessel. 

Yet  He  came  not  to  destroy  men's  lives  but  to  save 
them.  And,  therefore,  while  showing  Himself  neither 
indifferent  nor  powerless  against  barren  and  false  pre- 
tensioTS,  He  did  this  only  cr.ce,  and  then  only  by  a 
sign  wrought  upon  an  unsen'dent  tree. 

Retribution  fell  upon  it  net  for  its  lack  of  fruit,  since 
at  that  season  it  shared  this  v/ith  all  its  tribe,  but  for 
ostentatious,  much-professing  fruitlessness.  And  thus 
it  pointed  Avith  dread  significance  to  the  condition  of 
God's  own  people,  differing  from  Greece  and  Rome  and 
Syria,  not  in  the  want  of  fruit,  but  in  the  show  of  luxu- 
riant frondage,  in  the  expectation  it  excited  and  mocked. 
When  the  season  of  the  world's  fruitfulness  was  yet 
remote,  only  Israel  put  forth  leaves,  and  made  professions 
which  were  not  fulfilled.  And  the  permanent  warning 
of  the  miracle  is  not  for  heathen  men  and  races,  but 
for  Christians  who  have  a  name  to  live,  and  who  are 
called  to  bear  fruit  unto  God. 

While  the  disciples  marvelled  at  the  sudden  fulfilment 
of  its  sentence,  they  could  not  have  forgotten  the 
parable  of  a  fig-tree  in  the  vineyard,  on  which  care 
and  labour  were  lavished,  but  which  must  be  destroyed 

20 


3o6  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

after  one  year  of  respile  if  it  continued  to  be  a  cuinberer 
of  the  ground. 

And  Jesus  drove  the  lesson  home.  He  pointed  to 
"  this  mountain  "  full  in  front,  with  the  gold  and  marble 
of  the  temple  sparkling  like  a  diadem  upon  its  brow, 
and  declared  that  faith  is  not  only  able  to  smite  barren- 
ness with  death,  but  to  remove  into  the  midst  of  the 
sea,  to  plant  among  the  wild  and  stormswept  races  of 
the  immeasurable  pagan  world,  the  glory  and  privilege 
of  the  realized  presence  of  the  Lord.  To  do  this  was 
the  purpose  of  God,  hinted  by  many  a  prophet,  and 
clearly  announced  by  Christ  Himself.  But  its  accom- 
plishment was  lefl  to  His  followers,  who  should  succeed 
in  exact  proportion  to  the  union  of  their  will  and  that 
of  God,  so  that  the  condition  of  that  moral  miracle, 
transcending  all  others  in  marvel  and  in  efiicacy,  was 
simple  faith. 

And  the  same  rule  covers  all  the  exigencies  of  life. 
One  who  truly  relies  on  God,  whose  mind  and  will  are 
attuned  to  those  of  the  Eternal,  cannot  be  selfish,  or 
vindictive,  or  presumptuous.  As  far  as  we  rise  to  the 
grandeur  of  this  condition  we  enter  into  the  Omni- 
potence of  God,  and  no  limit  need  be  imposed  upon  the 
prevalence  of  really  and  utterly  believing  prayer.  The 
wishes  that  ought  to  be  refused  will  vanish  as  we  attain 
that  eminence,  like  the  hoar  frost  of  morning  as  the 
sun  grows  strong. 

To  this  promise  Jesus  added  a  precept,  the  admirable 
suitability  of  which  is  not  at  first  apparent.  Most  sinj 
are  made  evident  to  the  conscience  in  the  act  of  prayer. 
Drawing  nigh  to  God,  we  feel  our  unfitness  to  be  there, 
we  are  made  conscious  of  what  He  frowns  upon,  and 
if  we  have  such  faith  as  Jesus  spc!:e  of,  we  at  once 
resign  what  would  grieve  the  Spirit  of  adoplion.     No 


Marlcxi.  T5-I9-]     CLEANSING   OF   THE    TEMPLE.  307 

saint  is  ignorant  of  the  convicting  power  of  prayer. 
But  it  is  not  of  necessity  so  with  resentment  for  real 
grievances.  We  may  thinlc  we  do  well  to  be  angry. 
We  may  confound  our  selfish  fire  with  the  pure  flame 
of  hol}^  zeal,  and  begin,  with  confidence  enough,  yet  not 
with  the  mind  of  Christ,  to  remove  mountains,  not  because 
they  impede  a  holy  cause,  but  because  they  throw  a 
shadow  upon  our  own  field.  And,  therefore,  Jesus 
reminds  us  that  not  only  wonder-working  faith,  but 
even  the  forgiveness  of  our  sins  requires  from  us  the 
forgiveness  of  our  brother.  This  saying  is  the  clearest 
proof  of  how  much  is  implied  in  a  truly  undoubting 
heart.  And  this  promise  is  the  sternest  rebuke  of  the 
Church,  endorsed  with  such  ample  powers,  and  yet  after 
nineteen  centuries  confronted  by  an  unconverted  world. 

THE  SECOND    CLEANSING   OF   THE    TEMPLE. 

"And  they  come  to  Jerusalem:  and  He  entered  into  the  temple, 
and  began  to  cast  out  them  that  sold  and  them  that  bought  in  the 
temple,  and  overthrew  the  tables  of  the  moneychangers,  and  the  seats 
of  them  that  sold  the  doves  ;  and  He  would  not  suffer  that  any  man 
should  carry  a  vessel  through  the  temple.  And  He  taught,  and  said 
unto  them,  Is  it  not  written,  My  house  shall  be  called  a  house  of  prayer 
for  all  the  nations  ?  but  ye  have  made  it  a  den  of  robbers.  And  the 
chief  priests  and  the  scribes  heard  it,  and  sought  how  they  might 
destroy  Him  :  for  they  feared  Him,  for  all  the  multitude  was  astonished 
at  His  teaching.  And  every  evening  He  went  forth  out  of  the  city." — 
Mark  xi.  15-19.  (R.V.). 

With  the  authority  of  yesterday's  triumph  still  about 
Him,  Jesus  returned  to  the  temple,  which  He  had  then 
inspected.  There  at  least  the  priesthood  were  not 
thwarted  by  popular  indifference  or  ignorance  :  they 
had  powder  to  carry  out  fully  their  own  views  ;  they 
were  solely  responsible  for  whatever  abuses  could  be 
discovered.     In   fact,   the  iniquities  which  moved   the 


3o8  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

indignation  of  Jesus  were  of  their  own  contrivance,  and 
they  enriched  themselves  by  a  vile  trade  which  robbed 
the  worshippers  and  profaned  the  holy  house. 

Pilgrims  from  a  distance  needed  the  sacred  money, 
the  half-shekel  of  the  sanctuary,  still  coined  for  this 
one  purpose,  to  offer  for  a  ransom  of  their  souls  (Exod. 
XXX.  13).  And  the  priests  had  sanctioned  a  trade  in 
the  exchange  of  money  under  the  temple  roof,  so 
fraudulent  that  the  dealers'  evidence  was  refused  in  the 
courts  of  justice. 

Doves  were  necessary  for  the  purification  of  the  poor, 
who  could  not  afford  more  costly  sacrifices,  and  sheep 
and  oxen  were  also  in  great  demand.  And  since  the 
unblemished  quality  of  the  sacrifices  should  be  attested 
by  the  priests,  they  had  been  able  to  put  a  fictitious 
value  upon  these  animals,  by  which  the  family  of  Annas 
in  particular  had  accumulated  enormous  wealth. 

To  facilitate  this  trade,  they  had  dared  to  bring  the 
defilement  of  the  cattle  market  within  the  precincts  of 
the  House  of  God.  Not  indeed  into  the  place  where 
the  Pharisee  stood  in  his  pride  and  "prayed  with  him- 
self," for  that  was  holy ;  but  the  court  of  the  Gentiles 
was  profane ;  the  din  which  distracted  and  the  foulness 
which  revolted  Gentile  worship  was  of  no  account  to 
the  average  Jew.  But  Jesus  regarded  the  scene  with 
different  eyes.  How  could  the  sanctity  of  that  holy 
place  not  extend  to  the  court  of  the  stranger  and  the 
proselyte,  when  it  was  written,  Thy  house  shall  be  called 
a  house  of  prayer  for  all  the  nations  ?  Therefore  Jesus 
had  already,  at  the  outset  of  His  ministry,  cleansed 
His  Father's  house.  Now,  in  the  fulness  of  His  newly 
asserted  royalty,  He  calls  it  My  House :  He  denounces 
the  inini'it"  of  their  traffic  by  branding  it  as  a  den  of 
rclbers;  He  cas's  out  the  traders  themselves,  as  well 


Mark  xi.  1 5- 1 9-]     CLEANSING   OF   THE    TEMPLE.  7f9' 


as  the  impleinents  of  their  traffic  ;  and  in  so  doing 
He  fanned  to  a  mortal  heat  the  hatred  of  the  chief 
priests  and  the  scribes,  who  saw  at  once  their  revenues 
threatened  and  their  reputation  tarnished,  and  3'et  dared 
not  strike,  because  all  the  multitude  was  astonished  at 
His  teaching. 

But  the  wisdom  of  Jesus  did  not  leave  Him  within 
their  reach  at  night ;  every  evening  He  went  forth  out 
of  the  city. 

From  this  narrative  we  learn  the  blinding  force  of 
self-interest,  for  doubtless  they  were  no  more  sensible 
of  their  iniquity  than  many  a  modern  slavedealer. 
And  we  must  never  rest  content  because  our  own 
conscience  acquits  us,  unless  we  have  by  thought  and 
prayer  supplied  it  with  light  and  guiding. 

We  learn  reverence  for  sacred  places,  since  the  one 
exercise  of  His  royal  authority  which  Jesus  publicly 
displayed  was  to  cleanse  the  temple,  even  though  upon 
the  morrow  He  would  relinquish  it  for  ever,  to  be 
"  your  house  " — and  desolate. 

We  learn  also  how  much  apparent  sanctity,  what 
dignity  of  worship,  splendour  of  offerings,  and  pomp  of 
architecture  may  go  along  with  corruption  and  un- 
reality. 

And  yet  again,  by  their  overawed  and  abject  helpless- 
ness we  learn  the  might  of  holy  indignation,  and  the 
awakening  power  of  a  bold  appeal  to  conscience.  "The 
people  hung  upon  Him,  listening,"  and  if  all  seemed 
vain  and  wasted  effort  on  the  following  Friday,  what 
fruit  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  did  not  His  followers 
gather  in,  as  soon  as  He  poured  down  on  them  the 
gifts  of  Pentecost. 

Did  they  now  recall  their  own  reflections  after  the 
eariier  cleansing  of  the   tem.ple  ?   and  their  Master's 


3IO  GOSPEL   OF  ST.    MARK. 

ominous  words  ?  They  had  then  remembered  how  it 
was  written,  The  zeal  of  thine  house  shall  eat  Me  up. 
And  He  had  said,  Destroy  this  temple,  and  in  three 
days  I  shall  raise  it  up,  speaking  of  the  temple  of 
His  Body,  which  was  now  about  to  be  thrown  down. 

THE  BAPTISM  OF  JOHN,    WHENCE    WAS  IT? 

"  And  they  come  again  to  Jerusalem  :  and  as  He  was  walking  in  the 
temple,  there  come  to  Him  the  chief  priests,  and  the  scribes,  and  the 
elders  ;  and  they  said  unto  Him,  By  what  authority  doest  Thou  these 
things  ?  or  who  gave  Thee  this  authority  to  do  these  things  ?  And  Jesus 
said  unto  them,  I  will  ask  of  you  one  question,  and  answer  Me,  and  I 
will  tell  you  by  what  authority  I  do  these  things.  The  baptism  of  John, 
was  it  from  heaven,  or  from  men?  answer  Me.  And  they  reasoned  with 
themselves,  saying,  If  we  shall  say,  From  heaven  :  He  will  say.  Why 
then  did  ye  not  believe  him  ?  But  should  we  say,  From  men — they 
feared  the  people  :  for  all  verily  held  John  to  be  a  prophet.  And 
they  answered  Jesus  and  say,  We  know  not.  And  Jesus  saith  unto 
them,  Neither  tell  I  you  by  what  authority  I  do  these  things." — 
Mark  xi.  27-33  (R-V.). 

The  question  put  to  Jesus  by  the  hierarchy  of  Jeru- 
salem is  recorded  in  all  the  synoptic  Gospels.  But  in 
some  respects  the  story  is  most  pointed  in  the  narrative 
of  St.  Mark.  And  it  is  natural  that  he,  the  historian 
especially  of  the  energies  of  Christ,  should  lay  stress 
upon  a  challenge  addressed  to  Him,  by  reason  of  His 
masterful  words  and  deeds.  At  the  outset,  he  had 
recorded  the  astonishment  of  the  people  because 
Jesus  taught  with  authority,  because  "Verily  I  say" 
replaced  the  childish  and  servile  methods  by  which 
the  scribe  and  the  Pharisee  sustained  their  most  wilful 
innovations. 

When  first  he  relates  a  miracle,  he  tells  how  their 
wonder  increased,  because  with  authority  Jesus  com- 
manded the  unclean  spirits  and  they  obeyed,  respecting 


Markxi.  27-33J BAPTISM   OFJOH^ 3U. 

His  self-reliant  word  "  1  command  thee  to  come  out," 
more  than  the  most  elaborate  incantations  and  exorcisms. 
St    Mark's  first  record  of  collision  with  the  priests  was 
when  Jesus   carried   His  claim  still  farther,  and    said 
"  The  Son  of  man  hath  authority  "  (it  is  the  same  word) 
"on  earth  to  forgive  sins."     Thus  we  find  the  Gospel 
quite  conscious   of  what  so   forcibly   strikes  a  careful 
modern  reader,   the   assured  and  independent  tone  of 
Jesus  ;  His  bearing,  so  unlike  that  of  a  disciple  or  a  com- 
mentator ;  His  consciousness  that  the  Scriptures  them- 
selves are  they  which  testify  of  Him,  and  that  only  He 
can  give  the  life  which  men  think  they  possess  in  these. 
In  the  very  teaching  of  lowliness  Jesus  exempts  Him- 
self, and  forbids  others  to  be  Master  and  Lord,  because 
these  titles  belong  to  Him. 

Impressive.as  such  claims  appear  when  we  awake  to 
them,  it  is  even  more  suggestive  to  reflect  that  we  can 
easily  read  the  Gospels  and  not  be  struck  by  them.     We 
do  not  start  when  He  bids  all  the  weary  to  come  to  Him, 
and  offers  them  rest,  and  yet  declares  Himself  to  be 
meek  and  lowly.    He  is  meek  and  lowly  while  He  makes 
such  claims.     His  bearing  is  that  of  the  highest  rank, 
joined  with  the  most  perfect  graciousness  ;  His  great 
claims  never  irritate  us,  because  they  are  palpably  His 
due,  and  we  readily  concede  the  astonishing  elevation 
whence  He  so  graciously  bends  down  so  low.    And  this 
is  one  evidence  of  the  truth  and  power  of  the  character 
which  the  Apostles  drew. 

■  How  natural  is  this  also,  that  immediately  after  Palm 
Sunday  when  the  people  have  hailed  their  Messiah, 
royal  and  a  Saviour,  and  when  He  has  accepted  theu" 
l^oma^e  we  find  new  indications  of  authority  in  His 
be-^nng'and  His  actions.  He  promptly  took  them  at 
ih"ir  word.     It  was  now  that   He  wrought  His  only 


312  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

miracle  of  judgment,  and  although  it  was  but  the 
withering  of  a  tree  (since  He  came  not  to  destroy  men's 
lives  but  to  save  them),  yet  v/as  there  a  dread  symbolical 
sentence  involved  upon  all  barren  and  unfruitful  men 
and  Churches.  In  the  very  act  of  triumphal  entry,  Me 
solemnly  pronounced  judgment  upon  the  guilty  city 
which  would  not  accept  her  King. 

Arrived  at  the  temple,  He  surveyed  its  abuses  and 
defilements,  and  returned  on  the  morrow  (and  so  not 
spurred  by  sudden  impulse,  but  of  deliberate  purpose), 
to  drive  out  them  that  sold  and  bought.  Two  years 
ago  He  had  needed  to  scourge  the  intruders  forth,  but 
now  they  are  overawed  by  His  majest}',  and  obey  His 
word.  Then,  too,  they  were  rebuked  for  making  His 
Father's  house  a  house  of  merchandise,  but  now  it  is 
His  own — "My  House,"  but  degraded  yet  farther  into 
a  den  of  thieves. 

But  while  traffic  and  pollution  shrank  away,  misery 
and  privation  were  attracted  to  Him  ;  the  blind  and  the 
lame  came  and  were  healed  in  the  very  temple  ;  and  the 
centre  and  rallying-place  of  the  priests  and  scribes  be- 
held His  power  to  save.  This  drove  them  to  extremi- 
ties. He  was  carrying  the  war  into  the  heart  of  their 
territories,  establishing  Himself  in  their  stronghold,  and 
making  it  very  plain  that  since  the  people  had  hailed 
Him  King,  and  He  had  responded  to  their  acclaims,  He 
would  not  shrink  from  whatever  His  viev/  of  that  great 
office  might  involve. 

While  they  watched,  full  of  bitterness  and  envy,  they 
were  again  impressed,  as  at  the  beginning,  by  the 
strange,  autocratic,  spontaneous  manner  in  wliich  He 
wc'.ked,  making  Himself  the  source  of  His  blessings, 
as  no  prophet  had  ever  done  since  Moses  expiated  so 
dearly  the  offence  of  saying.  Must  w?e  fetch  you  water 


Mark  xi.  27-33-]  BAPTISM  OF  JOHN.  313 

out  of  the  rock  ?  Jesus  acted  after  the  fashion  of  Him 
Wlio  openeth  His  hands  and  satisfieth  the  desire  of 
every  living  thing.  Why  did  He  not  give  the  glory  to 
One  above  ?  Why  did  He  not  supplicate,  nor  invoke, 
but  simply  bestow  ?  Where  were  the  accustomed  words 
of  supplication,  "  Hear  me,  O  Lord  God,  hear  me,"  or, 
"  Where  is  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  ?  " 

Here  they  discerned  a  flaw,  a  heresy  ;  and  they  would 
force  Him  either  to  make  a  fatal  claim,  or  else  to  moder- 
ate Llis  pretensions  at  their  bidding,  which  would 
promptly  restore  their  lost  influence  and  leadership. 

Nor  need  we  shrink  from  confessing  that  our  Lord 
was  justly  open  to  such  reproach,  unless  Lie  was  indeed 
Divine,  unless  Lie  was  deliberately  preparing  Llis  fol- 
lowers for  that  astonishing  revelation,  soon  to  come, 
which  threw  the  Church  upon  her  knees  in  adoration 
of  her  God  manifest  in  flesh.  It  is  hard  to  understand 
how  the  Socinian  can  defend  his  Master  against  the 
charge  of  encroaching  on  the  rights  and  honours  of 
Deity,  and  (to  borrow  a  phrase  from  a  different  connec- 
tion) sitting  down  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  of 
God,  whereas  every  priest  standeth  ministering.  If  He 
W'cre  a  creature,  He  culpably  failed  to  tell  us  the  con- 
ditions upon  which  Lie  received  a  delegated  authority, 
and  the  omission  has  made  Llis  Church  ever  since 
idolatrous.  It  is  one  great  and  remarkable  lesson 
suggested  by  this  verse :  if  Jesus  were  not  Divine, 
what  was  He  ? 

Thus  it  came  to  pass,  in  direct  consequence  upon 
the  events  which  opened  the  great  week  of  the  triumph 
and  the  cross  of  Jesus,  that  the  whole  rank  and 
authority  of  the  temple  system  confronted  Him  with  a 
stern  question.  They  sat  in  Moses'  seat.  They  were 
entitled    to    examine    the    pretensions    of  a    new   and 


314  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

aspiring  teacher.  They  had  a  perfect  right  to  demand 
"  Tell  us  by  what  authority  thou  doest  these  things." 
The  works  are  riot  denied,  but  the  source  whence  they 
flow  is  questioned. 

After  so  many  centuries,  the  question  is  fresh  to-day. 
For  still  the  spirit  of  Christ  is  working  in  His  world, 
openly,  palpably,  spreading  blessings  far  and  wide. 
It  is  exalting  multitudes  of  ignoble  lives  by  hopes  that 
are  profound,  far-reaching,  and  sublime.  When  savage 
realms  are  explored,  it  is  Christ  Who  hastens  thither 
with  His  gospel,  before  the  trader  in  rum  and  gun- 
powder can  exhibit  the  charms  of  a  civilization  without 
a  creed.  In  the  gloomiest  haunts  of  disease  and 
miser}^,  madness,  idiotcy,  orphanage,  and  vice,  there  is 
Christ  at  work,  the  good  Samaritan,  pouring  oil  and 
wine  into  the  gaping  wounds  of  human  nature,  acting 
quite  upon  His  own  authority,  careless  who  looks 
askance,  not  asking  political  economy  whether  genuine 
charity  is  pauperisation,  nor  questioning  the  doctrine 
of  development,  whether  the  progress  of  the  race  de- 
mands the  pitiless  rejection  of  the  unfit,  and  selection 
only  of  the  strongest  specimens  for  survival.  That 
iron  creed  may  be  natural ;  but  if  so,  ours  is  super- 
natural, it  is  a  law  of  spirit  and  life,  setting  us  free  from 
that  base  and  selfish  law  of  sin  and  "death.  The  exis- 
tence and  energy  of  Christian  forces  in  our  modern 
world  is  indisputable  :  never  was  Jesus  a  more  popular 
and  formidable  claimant  of  its  crown  ;  never  did  more 
Hosannas  follow  Him  into  the  temple.  But  now  as 
formerly  His  credentials  are  demanded  :  what  is  His 
authority  and  how  has  He  come  by  it  ? 

Now  we  say  of  modern  as  of  ancient  inquiries,  that 
they  are  right  ;  investigation  is  inevitable  and  a  duty. 

But    see    how   Jesus    dealt  with   those  men  of  old. 


Mark  xi.  27-33-]  BAPTISM   OF  JOHN.  31S 

Let  us  not  misunderstand  Him.  He  did  not  merely 
set  one  difiiculty  against  anotlier,  as  if  we  should  start 
some  scientific  problem,  and  absolve  ourselves  from  the 
duty  of  answering  any  inquiry  until  science  had  dis- 
posed of  this.  Doubtless  it  is  logical  enough  to  point 
out  that  all  creeds,  scientific  and  religious  alike,  have 
their  unsolved  problems.  But  the  reply  of  Jesus  was 
not  a  dexterous  evasion,  it  went  to  the  root  of  things, 
and,  therefore,  it  stands  good  for  time  and  for  eternity. 
He  refused  to  surrender  the  advantage  of  a  witness  to 
whom  He  was  entitled  :  He  demanded  that  all  the  facts 
and  not  some  alone  should  be  investigated.  In  truth 
their  position  bound  His  interrogators  to  examine  His 
credentials  ;  to  do  so  was  not  only  their  privilege  but 
their  duty.  But  then  they  must  begin  at  the  beginning. 
Had  they  performed  this  duty  for  the  Baptist  ?  Who 
or  what  was  that  mysterious,  lonely,  stern  preacher  of 
righteousness  who  had  stirred  the  national  heart  so 
profoundly,  and  whom  all  men  still  revered  ?  They 
themselves  had  sent  to  question  him,  and  his  answer 
was  notorious  :  he  had  said  that  he  was  sent  before  the 
Christ  ;  he  was  only  a  voice,  but  a  voice  which  de- 
manded the  preparation  of  a  way  before  the  Lord 
Himself,  Who  was  approaching,  and  a  highway  for  our 
God.  What  was  the  verdict  of  these  investigators 
upon  that  great  movement  ?  What  would  they  make 
of  the  decisive  testimony  of  the  Baptist  ? 

As  the  perilous  significance  of  this  consummate  re- 
joinder bursts  on  their  crafty  intelligence,  as  they  recoil 
confounded  from  the  exposure  they  have  brought  upon 
themselves,  St.  Mark  tells  how  the  question  was  pressed 
home,  "  Answer  Me  !"  But  they  dared  not  call  John 
an  impostor,  and  yet  to  confess  him  was  to  authenticate 
the  seal  upon   our    Lord's  credentials.     And  Jesus  is 


3i6  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MAIih'. 

palpably  within  His  rights  in  refusing  to  be  questioned 
of  such  authorities  as  these.  Yet  immediately  after- 
wards, with  equal  skill  and  boldness,  He  declared  Him- 
self, and  yet  defied  their  malice,  in  the  story  of  the 
lord  of  a  vineyard,  who  had  vainly  sent  many  servants 
to  claim  its  fruit,  and  at  the  last  sent  his  beloved  son. 

Now  apply  the  same  process  to  the  modern  oppo- 
nents of  the  faith,  and  it  will  be  found  that  multitudes 
of  their  assaults  on  Christianity  imply  the  negation  of 
what  they  will  not  and  dare  not  deny.  Some  will  not 
believe  in  miracles  because  the  laws  of  nature  work 
uniformly.  But  their  uniformity  is  undisturbed  by 
human  operations  ;  the  will  of  man  wields,  without  can- 
celling, these  mighty  forces  which  surround  us.  And 
why  may  not  the  will  of  God  do  the  same,  if  there  be  a 
God  ?  Ask  them  whether  they  deny  His  existence, 
and  they  will  probably  declare  themselves  Agnostics, 
which  is  exactly  the  ancient  answer,  "We  cannot  tell." 
Now  as  long  as  men  avow  their  ignorance  of  the 
existence  or  non-existence  of  a  Deity,  they  cannot  assert 
the  impossibility  of  miracles,  for  miracles  are  simply 
actions  which  reveal  God,  as  men's  actions  reveal  their 
presence. 

Again,  a  demand  is  made  for  such  evidence,  to 
establish  the  faith,  as  cannot  be  had  for  any  fact 
beyond  the  range  of  the  exact  sciences.  We  are  asked, 
Why  should  we  stake  eternity  upon  anything  short  of 
demonstration  ?  Yet  it  will  be  found  that  the  objector 
is  absolutely  persuaded,  and  acts  on  his  persuasion  of 
many  "  truths  which  never  can  be  proved " — of  the 
fidehty  of  his  wife  and  children,  and  above  all,  of  the 
difference  between  right  and  wrong.  That  is  a  funda- 
mental principle  :  deny  it,  and  society  becomes  impos- 
sible.    And  yet   sceptical  theories  are  widely  diffused 


Mark  xi.  27-33-]  BAPTISM  OF  JOHN.  317 

which  really,  though  unconsciously,  sap  the  very 
foundations  of  morality,  or  assert  that  it  is  not  from 
heaven  but  of  men,  a  mere  expediency,  a  prudential 
arrar  gement  of  society. 

Such  arguments  may  well  "  fear  the  people,"  for  the 
instincts  of  mankind  know  well  that  all  such  explana- 
tions of  conscience  do  really  explain  it  away. 

And  it  is  quite  necessary  in  our  days,  when  religion 
is  impugned,  to  see  whether  the  assumptions  ot  its 
assailants  would  not  compromise  time  as  well  as  eternity, 
and  to  ask.  What  think  ye  of  all  those  fundamental 
principles  which  sustain  the  family,  society,  and  the 
state,  while  they  bear  testimony  to  the  Church  of 
Christ. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

THE   HUSBANDMEN. 

"And  He  began  to  speak  unto  them  in  parables.  A  man  planted  a 
vineyard,  and  set  a  hedge  about  it,  and  digged  a  pit  for  the  wine-press, 
and  built  a  tower,  and  let  it  out  to  husbandmen,  and  went  into  another 
country.  And  at  the  season  he  sent  to  the  husbandmen  a  servant,  that 
he  might  receive  from  the  husbandmen  of  the  fruits  of  the  vineyard. 
And  they  took  him,  and  beat  him,  and  sent  him  away  empty.  And 
again  he  sent  unto  them  another  servant  :  and  him  they  wounded  in 
the  head,  and  handled  shamefully.  And  he  sent  another :  and  him  they 
killed  :  and  many  others  ;  beating  some,  and  killing  some.  He  had 
yet  one,  a  beloved  son  :  he  sent  him  last  unto  them,  saying,  They  will 
reverence  my  son.  But  those  husbandmen  said  among  themselves, 
This  is  the  heir ;  come,  let  us  kill  him,  and  the  inheritance  shall  be  ours. 
And  they  took  him,  and  killed  him,  and  cast  him  forth  out  of  the  vine- 
yard. What,  therefore,  will  the  Lord  of  the  vineyard  do  ?  He  will 
come  and  destroy  the  husbandmen,  and  will  give  the  vineyard  unto 
others.     Have  ye   not  read  even  this    Scripture  : 

The  stone  which  the  builders  rejected, 

The  same  was  made  the  head  of  the  corner  : 

This  was  from  the  Lord, 

And  it  is  marvellous  in  our  eyes  ? 

And  they  sought  to  lay  hold  on  Him  ;  and  they  feared  the  multitude  ; 
for  they  perceived  that  He  spake  the  parable  against  them  :  and  they 
left  Him,  and  went  away. — Mark  xii.  1-12  (R.  V,). 

THE  rulers  of  His  people  have  failed  to  make  Jesus 
responsible  to  their  inquisition.  He  has  exposed 
the  hollovvness  of  their  claim  to  investigate  His  com- 
mission, and  formally  refused  to  tell  them  by  what 
authority  He  did  these  things.  But  what  He  would 
not  say  for  an  unjust  cross-examination,  He  proclaimed. 


Markxii.  I-I2.]  THE  HUSBANDMEN-  3I9 


to  all  docile  hearts  ;  and  the  skill  which  disarmed  His 
enemies  is  not  more  wonderful  than  that  which  in  their 
hearing  answered  their  question,  yet  left  them  no  room 
for  accusation.  This  was  achieved  by  speaking  to  them 
in  parables.  The  indifterent  might  hear  and  not  per- 
ceive :  the  keenness  of  malice  would  surely  understand 
but  could  not  easily  impeach  a  simple  story  ;  but  to  His 
own  followers  it  would  be  given  to  know  the  mysteries 
of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

His  first  words  would  be  enough  to  arouse  attention. 
The  psalmist  had  told  how  God  brought  a  vine  out  of 
Egypt,  and  cast  out  the  heathen  and  planted  it.     Isaiah 
had  carried  the  image  farther,  and  sung  of  a  vineyard 
in  a  very  fruitful  hill.    The  Well-beloved,  Whose  it  was, 
cleared  the  ground  for  it,  and  planted  it  with  the  choicest 
vine,  and  built  a  tower,  and  hewed  out  a  wine-press, 
and  looked  that  it  should  bring  forth  grapes,  but  it  had 
brought  forth  wild  grapes.     Therefore  He  would  lay  it 
waste.     This  well-known  and  recognized  type  the  Lord 
now  adopted,  but  modified  it  to  suit  His  purpose.     As 
in  a  former  parable  the  sower  slept   and  rose,  and  left 
the  earth  to  bring  forth  fruit  of  itself,  so  in  this,   the 
Lord  of  the  vineyard  let  it  out  to  husbandmen  and  went 
into  a  far  country.     This  is  our  Lord's  own  explanation 
of  that  silent  time  in  which   no  special   interpositions 
asserted  that  God  was  nigh,  no  prophecies  were  heard, 
no    miracles    startled    the    careless.       It   was    the    time 
when  grace  already  granted  should  have  been  peacefully 
ripening      Now  we  live  in  such  a  period.     Unbelievers 
desire  a  sign.     Impatient   believers    argue  that  if  our 
Master  is  as  near  us   as  ever,  the  same  portents  must 
attest  His  presence  ;  and,  therefore,   they  recognise  the 
gift  of  tongues   in    hysterical  clamour,  and    stake  the 
honour  of  religion  upon  faith-healing,  and  those  various 


320  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

obscure  phenciir.ena  which  the  annals  of  every  fanati- 
cism can  rival.  But  the  sober  Christian  understands 
that,  even  as  the  Lord  of  the  vineyard  v;ent  into 
another  country,  so  Christ  His  Son  (Who  in  spiritual 
communion  is  ever  with  His  people)  in  another  sense 
has  gone  into  a  far  country  to  receive  a  kingdom  and 
to  return.  In  the  interval,  marvels  would  be  simply 
an  anachronism.  The  best  present  evidence  of  the 
faith  lies  in  the  superior  fruitfulness  of  the  vineyard 
He  has  planted,  in  the  steady  advance  to  rich  maturity 
of  the  vine  He  has  imported  from  another  clime. 

At  this  point  Jesus  begins  to  add  a  new  significance  to 
the  ancient  metaphor.  The  husbandmen  are  mentioned. 
Men  there  were  in  the  ancient  Church,  who  were 
specially  responsible  for  the  culture  of  the  vineyard.  As 
He  spoke,  the  symbol  explained  itself  The  imposing 
array  of  chief  priests  and  scribes  and  elders  stood  by, 
who  had  just  claimed  as  their  prerogative  that  He 
should  make  good  His  commission  to  their  scrutiny  ;  and 
none  would  be  less  likely  to  mistake  His  meaning  than 
these  self-conscious  lovers  of  chief  seats  in  the  syna- 
gogues. The  structure  of  the  parable,  therefore,  admits 
their  official  rank,  as  frankly  as  when  Jesus  bade  His 
disciples  submit  to  their  ordinances  because  they  sit  in 
Moses'  seat.  But  He  passes  on,  easily  and  as  if  un- 
consciously, to  record  that  special  messengers  from 
heaven  had,  at  times,  interrupted  the  self-indulgent 
quietude  of  the  husbandmen.  Because  the  fruit  of  the 
vineyard  had  not  been  freely  rendered,  a  bondservant 
was  sent  to  demand  it.  The  epithet  implies  that  the 
messenger  was  lower  in  rank,  although  his  direct  mis- 
sion gave  him  authority  even  over  the  keepers  of  the 
vineyard.  It  expresses  exactly  the  position  of  the  pro- 
phets, few  of  them  of  priestly  rank,  some  of  them  very 


Markxii.  I-I2.]  THE   HUSBANDMEN.  321 

humble  in  extraction,  and  very  rustic  in  expression, 
but  all  sent  in  evil  da3's  to  faithless  husbandmen,  to 
remind  them  that  the  vineyard  was  not  their  own,  and 
to  receive  the  fruits  of  righteousness.  Again  and  again 
tlie  demand  is  heard,  for  He  sent  "many  others  ;  "  and 
always  it  is  rejected  with  violence,  which  sometimes 
rises  to  murder.  As  they  listened,  they  must  have  felt 
that  all  this  was  true,  that  while  prophet  after  prophet 
had  come  to  a  violent  end,  not  one  had  seen  the  official 
hierarchy  making  common  cause  with  him.  And  they 
must  also  have  felt  how  ruinous  was  this  rejoinder  to 
their  own  demand  that  the  people  should  forsake  a 
teacher  when  they  rejected  him.  Have  any  of  the 
rulers  or  of  the  Pharisees  believed  on  Him  ?  was  their 
scornful  question.  But  the  answer  was  plain.  As  long 
as  they  built  the  sepulchres  of  the  prophets,  and  gar- 
nished the  tombs  of  the  righteous,  and  said.  If  we  had 
been  in  the  days  of  our  fathers,  we  would  not  have 
been  partakers  with  them  in  the  blood  of  the  prophets, 
they  confessed  that  men  could  not  blindly  follow  a 
hierarchy  merely  as  such,  since  they  v;ere  not  the  of- 
ficial successors  of  the  prophets  but  of  those  who  slew 
them.  The  worst  charge  brought  against  them  was 
only  that  they  acted  according  to  analogy,  and  filled  up 
the  deeds  of  their  fathers.  It  had  always  been  the 
same. 

The  last  argument  of  Stephen,  which  filled  his  judges 
with  madness,  was  but  the  echo  of  this  great  impeach- 
ment. Which  of  the  prophets  did  not  your  fathers 
persecute  ?  and  they  killed  them  which  showed 
before  of  the  coming  of  the  Righteous  One,  of  Whom 
ye  have  now  become  the  betrayers  and  murderers. 

That  last  defiance  of  heaven,  which  Stephen  thus 
denounced,  his    Master    distinctly  foretold.      And   He 

21 


322  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

added  the  appalling  circumstance,  that  however  they 
might  deceive  themselves  and  sophisticate  their  con- 
science, they  really  knew  Him  Who  He  was.  They 
felt,  at  the  very  least,  that  into  His  hands  should  pass 
all  the  authority  and  power  they  had  so  long  monopo- 
lized :  "  This  is  the  Heir;  come  let  us  kill  Him  and  the 
inheritance  shall  be  ours."  If  there  were  no  more,  the 
utterance  of  these  words  put  forth  an  extraordinary  claim. 
All  that  should  have  been  rendered  up  to  heaven  and 
was  withheld,  all  that  previous  messengers  had  demanded 
on  behalf  of  God  without  avail,  all  "  the  inheritance  " 
which  these  wicked  husbandmen  were  intercepting,  all 
this  Jesus  announces  to  be  His  own,  while  reprehending 
the  dishonesty  of  any  other  claim  upon  it.  And  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  if  Jesus  be  not  Divine,  He  has  intercepted 
more  of  the  worship  due  to  the  Eternal,  has  attracted 
to  Himself  more  of  the  homage  of  the  loftiest  and  pro- 
foundest  minds,  than  any  false  teacher  within  the  pale 
of  monotheism  has  ever  done.  It  is  the  bounden  duty 
of  all  who  revere  Jesus  even  as  a  teacher,  of  all  who  have 
eyes  to  see  that  His  coming  was  the  greatest  upward 
step  in  the  progress  of  humanit}^,  to  consider  well  what 
was  implied,  when,  in  the  act  of  blaming  the  usurpers 
of  the  heritage  of  God,  Jesus  declared  that  inheritance 
to  be  His  own.  But  this  is  not  all,  though  it  is  what 
He  declares  that  the  husbandmen  were  conscious  of 
The  parable  states,  not  only  that  He  is  heir,  but  heir 
by  virtue  of  His  special  relationship  to  the  Supreme. 
Others  are  bondservants  or  husbandmen,  but  He  is  the 
Son.  He  does  not  inherit  as  the  worthiest  and  most 
obedient,  but  by  right  of  birth  ;  and  His  Father,  in  the 
act  of  sending  Him,  expects  even  these  bloodstained 
outlaws  to  reverence  His  Son.  In  such  a  phrase,  ap- 
plied to  such  criminals,  we  are  made  to  feel  the  lofty 


Markxii.  I-I2.]  THE  HUSBANDMEN.  323 

rank  alike  of  the  Father  and  His  Son,  which  ought  to 
have  overawed  even  them.  And  when  we  read  that  "He 
had  yet  one,  a  beloved  Son,"  it  seems  as  if  the  veil  of 
eternity  were  uplifted,  to  reveal  a  secret  and  awful  in- 
timacy, of  which,  nevertheless,  some  glimmering  con- 
sciousness should  have  controlled  the  most  desperate 
heart. 

But  they  only  reckoned  that  if  they  killed  the  Heir, 
the  inheritance  would  become  their  own.  It  seems  the 
wildest  madness,  that  men  should  know  and  feel  Who 
He  was,  and  yet  expect  to  profit  by  desecrating  His 
rights.  And  yet  so  it  was  from  the  beginning.  If 
Herod  were  not  fearful  that  the  predicted  King  of  the 
Jews  was  indeed  born,  the  massacre  of  the  Innocents 
was  idle.  If  the  rulers  were  not  fearful  that  this  counsel 
and  work  was  of  God,  they  would  not,  at  Gamaliel's 
bidding,  have  refrained  from  the  Apostles.  And  it 
comes  still  closer  to  the  point  to  observe  that,  if  they  had 
attached  no  importance,  even  in  their  moment  of  triumph, 
to  the  prediction  of  His  rising  from  the  dead,  they 
would  not  have  required  a  guard,  nor  betrayed  the  secret 
recognition  which  Jesus  here  exposes.  The  same  blind 
miscalculation  is  in  every  attempt  to  obtain  profit  or 
pleasure  by  means  which  are  known  to  transgress  the 
laws  of  the  all-beholding  Judge  of  all.  It  is  committed 
every  day,  under  the  pressure  of  strong  temptation,  by 
men  who  know  clearly  that  nothing  but  misery  can 
result.  So  true  is  it  that  action  is  decided,  not  by  a 
course  of  logic  in  the  brain,  but  by  the  temperament 
and  bias  of  our  nature  as  a  whole.  We  need  not 
suppose  that  the  rulers  roundly  spoke  such  words  as 
these,  even  to  themselves.  The  infamous  motive 
lurked  in  ambush,  too  far  in  the  back  ground  of  the 
mind    perhaps    even    for   consciousness.     But    it   was 


324  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


there,  and  it  affected  their  decision,  as  lurking  passions 
and  self-interests  always  will,  as  surely  as  iron  dellects 
the  compass.  "  They  caught  Him  and  killed  Him," 
said  the  unfaltering  lips  of  their  victim.  And  He 
added  a  circumstance  of  pain  which  we  often  overlook, 
but  to  which  the  great  minister  of  the  circumcision 
was  keenly  sensitive,  and  often  reverted,  the  giving 
Him  up  to  the  Gentiles,  to  a  death  accursed  among  the 
Jews;  "they  cast  Him  forth  out  of  the  vineyard." 

All  evil  acts  are  based  upon  an  overestimate  of  the 
tolerance  of  God.  He  had  seemed  to  remain  passive 
while  messenger  after  messenger  was  beaten,  stoned,  or 
slain.  But  now  that  they  had  filled  up  the  iniquity  of 
their  fathers,  the  Lord  of  the  vineyard  would  come  in 
person  to  destroy  them,  and  give  the  vineyard  to  others. 
This  last  phrase  is  strangely  at  variance  with  the 
notion  that  the  days  of  a  commissioned  ministry  are 
over,  as,  on  the  other  hand,  the  whole  parable  is  at 
variance  with  the  notion  that  a  priesthood  can  be 
trusted  to  sit  in  exclusive  judgment  upon  doctrine  for 
the  Church. 

At  this  point  St.  Mark  omits  an  incident  so  striking, 
although  small,  that  its  absence  is  significant.  The 
by-standers  said,  "God  forbid!"  and  when  the  horrified 
exclamation  betrayed  their  consciousness  of  the  position, 
Jesus  was  content,  without  a  word,  to  mark  their  self- 
conviction  by  His  searcliing  gaze.  "  He  looked  upon 
them."  The  omission  would  be  unaccountable  if  St. 
Mark  were  simply  a  powerful  narrator  of  graphic 
incidents  ;  but  it  is  explained  when  we  think  that  for 
l:im  the  manifestation  of  a  migiity  Personage  was  all 
in  all,  and  the  most  cliaracteristic  and  damaging 
admissions  of  the  hierarchy  were  as  notliing  compared 
with  a  word  of  his  Lord.     Thereupon   he  goes  straight 


Mark  xii.  15-17-]       THE    TRIBUTE   MONEY.  3^5 


on  to  record  that,  besides  refuting  their  claim  by  the 
history  of  the  past,  and  asserting  His  own  supremacy 
in  a  phrase  at  once  guarded  in  form  and  decisive  in 
import,  Jesus  also  appealed  to  Scripture.  It  was 
written  that  by  special  and  marvellous  interposition  of 
the  Lord  a  stone  which  the  recognized  builders  had 
rejected  should  crown  the  building.  And  the  quotation 
was  not  only  decisive  as  showing  that  their  rejection 
could  not  close  the  controversy;  it  also  compensated, 
with  a  promise  of  final  victory,  the  ominous  words  in 
which  their  malice  had  seemed  to  do  its  worst.  Jesus 
often  predicted  His  death,  but  He  never  despaired  of 
His  kingdom. 

No  wonder  that  the  rulers  sought  to  arrest  Him, 
and  perceived  that  He  penetrated  and  despised  their 
schemes.  And  their  next  device  is  a  natural  outcome 
from  the  fact  that  they  feared  the  people,  but  did  not 
discontinue  their  intrigues ;  for  this  was  a  crafty^  and 
dangerous  attempt  to  estrange  from  Him  the  admiring 
multitude. 

THE    TRIBUTE  MONEY. 

"  And  they  send  unto  Him  certain  of  the  Pharisees  and  of  the  Hero- 
dians  that  they  might  catch  Him  in  tallc.  And  when  they  were  come, 
they  say  unto  Him,  Master,  we  know  that  Thou  art  true,  and  carest 
not  for  any  one  :  for  Thou  regardest  not  the  person  of  men,  but  of  a 
truth  teachest  the  way  of  God  :  Is  it  lawful  to  give  tribute  unto  Ceesar, 
or  not?  Shall  we  give,  or  shall  we  not  give  ?  But  He,  knowmg  their 
hypocrisy,  said  unto  them,  Why  tempt  ye  Me  ?  bring  Me  a  penny, 
that  I  may  see  it.  And  they  brought  it.  And  He  saith  unto  them, 
Whose  is  this  image  and  superscription  ?  And  they  said  unto  Him, 
CKsar's.  And  Tesus  said  unto  them,  Render  unto  Cresar  the  things 
that  are  Cresar's,"  and  unto  God  the  things  that  are  God's.  And  they 
marvelled  greatly  a:  Him."— IMaRK  .\ii.  13-17  (R-V.). 

The  contrast  is  very  striking  between  this  incident  and 
the  last.     Instead  of  a  challenge,  Jesus  is  respectfully 


326  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

consulted  ;  and  instead  -of  a  formal  concourse  of  the 
authorities  of  His  religion,  He  is  Himself  the  authority 
to  Whom  a  few  perplexed  people  profess  to  submit  their 
difficulty.  Nevertheless,  it  is  a  new  and  subtle  efibrt 
of  the  enmity  of  His  defeated  foes.  They  have  sent  to 
Him  certain  Pharisees  who  will  excite  the  popular 
indignation  if  He  j'ields  anything  to  the  foreigner,  and 
Flerodians  who  will,  if  He  refuses,  bring  upon  Him  the 
colder  and  deadlier  vengeance  of  Rome.  They  flatter, 
in  order  to  stimulate,  that  fearless  utterance  which 
must  often  have  seemed  to  them  so  rash  :  "  We  know 
that  Thou  art  true,  and  carest  not  for  any  one,  for 
Thou  regardest  not  the  person  of  men,  but  of  a  truth 
teachest  the  way  of  God."  And  they  appeal  to  a 
higher  motive  by  representing  the  case  to  be  one  of 
practical  and  personal  urgency.  "  Shall  we  give,  or 
shall  we  not  give  ?  " 

Never  was  it  more  necessary  to  join  the  wisdom  of 
the  serpent  to  the  innocence  of  the  dove,  for  it  would 
seem  that  He  must  needs  answer  directly,  and  that  no 
direct  answer  can  fail  to  have  the  gravest  consequences. 
But  in  their  eagerness  to  secure  this  m.enacing  position, 
they  have  left  one  weak  point  in  the  attack.  They 
have  made  the  question  altogether  a  practical  one. 
The  abstract  doctrine  of  the  right  to  drive  out  a  foreign 
power,  of  the  limits  of  authority  and  freedom,  they 
have  not  raised.  It  is  simply  a  question  of  the  hour, 
Shall  we  give  or  shall  we  not  give  ? 

And  Jesus  baffled  them  by  treating  it  as  such. 
There  was  no  longer  a  national  coinage,  except  only  of 
the  half  shekel  for  the  temple  tax.  When  He  asked 
them  for  a  smaller  coin,  they  produced  a  Roman  penny 
stamped  with  the  effigy  of  Csesar.  Thus  they  confessed 
the   use    of  the    Roman    currency.     Now    since    they 


Mark  xii.  13- 1 7-1       ^^^    TRIBUTE  MONEY.  327 

accepted  the  advantages  of  subjugation,  they  ought 
also  to  endure  its  burdens :  since  they  traded  as 
Roman  subjects,  they  ought  to  pay  the  Roman  tribute. 
Not  He  had  preached  submission,  but  they  had  avowed 
it;  and  any  consequent  unpopularity  v/ould  fall  not 
upon  Him  but  them.  They  had  answered  their  own 
question.  And  Jesus  laid  down  the  broad  and  simple 
rule,  "  Render  (pay  back)  unto  Caesar  the  things  that 
are  Csesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things  that  are  God's. 
And  they  marvelled  greatly  at  Him."  No  wonder  they 
marvelled,  for  it  would  be  hard  to  find  in  all  the  records 
of  philosophy  so  ready  and  practical  a  device  to  baffle 
such  cunning  intriguers,  such  keenness  in  One  Whose 
life  was  so  far  removed  from  the  schools  of  worldly 
wisdom,  joined  with  so  firm  a  grasp  on  principle,  in  an 
utterance  so  brief,  3^et  going  down  so  far  to  the  roots 
of  action. 

Nov/  the  words  of  Jesus  are  words  for  all  time  ; 
even  when  He  deals  with  a  question  of  the  hour.  He 
treats  it  from  the  point  of  view  of  eternal  fitness  and 
duty  ;  and  this  command  to  render  unto  Caesar  the 
things  which  are  Ccesar's  has  become  the  charter  of 
the  state  against  all  usurpations  of  tyrannous  eccle- 
siastics. A  sphere  is  recognized  in  which  obedience 
to  the  law  is  a  duty  to  God.  But  it  is  absurd  to  pre- 
tend that  Christ  taught  blind  and  servile  obedience  to 
all  tyrants  in  all  circumstances,  for  this  would  often 
make  it  impossible  to  obey  the  second  injunction,  and 
to  render  unto  God  the  things  which  are  God's, — ^a 
clause  which  asserts  in  turn  the  right  of  conscience 
and  the  Church  against  all  secular  encroachments. 
The  point  to  observe  is,  that  the  decision  of  Jesus  is 
simply  an  inference,  a  deduction.  St.  Matthew  has 
inserted    the     word    "  therefore,"    and    it   is    certainly 


328  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

implied  :  render  unto  Csesar  the  things  which  you  con- 
fess to  be  his  own,  which  bear  his  image  upon  their 
face. 

Can  we  suppose  that  no  such  inference  gives  point 
to  the  second  clause  ?  It  would  then  become,  like  too 
many  of  our  pious  sayings,  a  mere  supplement,  inappro- 
priate, however  excellent,  a  make  weight,  and  a  plati- 
tude. No  example  of  such  irrelevance  can  be  found 
in  the  story  of  our  Lord.  V/hen,  finding  the  likeness 
of  Caesar  on  the  coin,  He  said,  Render,  therefore,  unto 
Csesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's,  and  unto  God  the 
things  that  are  God's,  He  at  least  suggested  that  the 
reason  for  both  precepts  ran  parallel,  and  the  image  of 
the  higher  and  heavenlier  Monarch  could  be  found  on 
what  He  claims  of  us.  And  it  is  so.  He  claims  all 
we  have  and  all  we  are.  "The  earth  is  the  Lord's, 
and  the  fulness  thereof:"  and  "I  have  made  thee, 
thou  art  Mine."  And  for  us  and  ours  alike  the  argu- 
ment holds  good.  All  the  visible  universe  bears  deeply 
stamped  into  its  substance  His  image  and  superscrip- 
tion. The  grandeur  of  mountains  and  stars,  the 
fairness  of  violet  and  harebell,  are  alike  revelations  of 
the  Creator.  The  heavens  declare  His  glory :  the 
firmament  showeth  His  handiwork  :  the  earth  is  full  of 
His  riches :  all  the  discoveries  which  expand  our 
mastery  over  nature  and  disease,  over  time  and  space, 
are  proofs  of  His  wisdom  and  goodness.  Who  laid  the 
amazing  plan  which  we  grow  wise  by  tracing  out. 
Find  a  corner  on  which  contrivance  and  benevolence 
have  not  stamped  the  royal  image,  and  we  may  doubt 
whether  that  bleak  spot  owes  Him  tribute.  But  no 
desert  is  so  blighted,  no  solitude  so  forlorn. 

And  we  should  render  unto  God  the  things  which 
are  God's,  seeing  His  likeness  in  His  world.     "  For  t'le 


MavkxiLi3-T7.]        THE    TRIBUTE   MONEY.  3^9 


invisible  things  of  Him  since  the  creation  of  the  world 
are  clearly  seen,  being  perceived  through  the  things 
v^hich    are    made,    even    His    everlasting    power    and 

divinity." 

And  if  most  of  all  He  demands  the  love,  the  heart  of 
man,  here  also  He  can  ask,  "  Whose  image  and  super- 
scription is  this  ?  "  For  in  the  image  of  God  made  He 
man.  It  is  sometimes  urged  that  this  image  was  quite 
ef^iced  when  Adam  fell.  But  it  was  not  to  protect 
the  unfallen  that  the  edict  was  spoken  "  Whoso  sheddeth 
man's  blood,  by  man  shall  his  blood  be  shed,  for  in 
the  image  of  God  made  He  man."  He  was  not  an 
unfallen  man  of  whom  St.  Paul  said  that  he  "ought 
not  to  have  his  head  veiled,  forasmuch  as  he  is  the 
image  and  glory  of  God  ; "  neither  were  they  unfallen, 
of  whom  St.  James  said,  "We  curse  men  which  are 
made  after  the  likeness  of  God  "  (Gen.  ix.  6  ;  i  Cor.  xi. 
7  ;  lames  iii.  9).  Common  men,  for  whom  the  assassin 
lurks,  who  need  instruction  how  to  behave  in  church, 
and  whom  others  scorn  and  curse,  these  bear  upon 
them  an  awful  likeness;  and  even  when  they  refuse 
tribute  to  their  king,  He  can  ask  them.  Whose  is  this 

image  ? 

We  see  it  in  the  intellect,  ever  demanding  new 
worlds  to  conquer,  overwhelming  us  with  its  victories 
over  time  and  space.  "  In  apprehension  how  like  a 
God."  Alas  for  us!  if  we  forget  that  the  Spirit  of 
knowledge  and  wisdom  is  no  other  than  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord  God. 

We  see  this  likeness  far  more  in  our  moral  nature. 
It  is  true  that  sin  has  spoiled  and  wasted  this,  yet  there 
survives  in  man's  heart,  as  nowhere  else  in  our  world, 
a  strange  sympathy  with  the  holiness  and  love  of  God. 
No  other  of  His  attributes  has  the  same  power  to  thrill 


33°  GOSPEL   OF  ST.   MARK. 

US.  Tell  me  that  He  lit  the  stars  and  can  quench  them 
with  a  word,  and  I  reverence,  perhaps  I  fear  Him  ;  yet 
such  power  is  outside  and  beyond  my  sphere  ;  it  fails  to 
touch  me,  it  is  high,  I  cannot  attain  unto  it.  Even  the 
rarer  human  gifts,  the  power  of  a  Czar,  the  wisdom  of 
Bacon,  are  thus  beyond  me,  I  am  unkindled,  they  do 
not  find  me  out.  But  speak  of  holiness,  even  the 
stainless  holiness  of  God,  undefiled  through  all  eternit}-, 
and  you  shake  the  foundations  of  my  being.  And 
why  does  the  reflection  that  God  is  pure  humble  me 
more  than  the  knowledge  that  God  is  omnipotent  ? 
Because  it  is  my  spiritual  nature  which  is  most  con- 
scious of  the  Divine  image,  blurred  and  defaced 
indeed,  but  not  obliterated  yet.  Because  while  I 
listen  I  am  dimly  conscious  of  my  birthright,  my 
destiny,  that  I  was  born  to  resemble  this,  and  all 
is  lost  if  I  come  short  of  it.  Because  every  child  and 
every  sinner  feels  that  it  is  more  possible  for  him  to 
be  like  his  God  than  like  Newton,  or  Shakespere,  or 
Napoleon.  Because  the  work  of  grace  is  to  call  in 
the  worn  and  degraded  coinage  of  humanity,  and,  as  the 
mint  restamps  and  reissues  the  pieces  which  have 
grown  thin  and  worn,  so  to  renew  us  after  the  image 
of  H[im  that  created  us. 

CHRIST  AAD    THE   SADDUCEES. 

"And  there  come  unto  Him  Sadducees,  which  say  that  there  is  no 
resurrection  :  and  they  asked  Ilim,  saying,  Master,  JNIoses  wrote  unto 
us,  If  a  man's  brother  die,  and  leave  a  \\'\[e.  behind  him,  and  leave  no 
child,  that  his  brother  should  take  his  wife,  and  raise  up  seed  unto  his 
brother.  There  were  seven  brethren  :  and  the  first  took  a  wife,  and 
dying  left  no  seed  ;  and  the  second  took  her,  and  died,  leaving  no  seed 
behind  him  ;  and  the  third  like\\-i.-e  :  and  the  seven  left  no  ^eed.  Last 
of  all  the  woman  also  died.  In  the  res  rrectii^n  whose  wi.'j  si'.all  she 
be  of  them  ?  for  the  se\  en  h.id  her  to  wife.     Jefus  said  unto  them,  Is  it 


Marlcxii.  iS-27.]     CHRIST  AND   THE  SADDUCEES.  331 

not  for  this  cause  that  ye  err,  that  ye  know  not  the  .Scri|_itures,  nor  the 
l^ower  of  God  ?  For  \\'hen  they  shall  rise  from  tlie  dead,  they  nc'lher 
marry,  nor  are  given  in  marriage  ;  but  are  as  angp's  in  heaven.  But  as 
touching  the  dead,  that  tliey  are  raised;  have  ye  not  read  in  the  boolc 
of  iMoses,  in  the  place  concerning  the  Bush,  how  God  spake  unto  him, 
saying,  I  am  the  God  of  Abraliam,  and  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God 
of  Jacob?  He  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living  :  ye  do 
greatly  err." — Mark  xii.  iS-27  (R.V.). 

Christ  came  that  the  thoughts  of  many  hearts  might 
be  revealed.  And  so  it  was,  that  when  He  had  silenced 
the  examination  of  the  hierarchy,  and  baffled  their  craft, 
the  Sadducees  were  tempted  to  assail  Him.  Like  the 
rationalists  of  every  age,  they  stood  coldly  aloof  from 
popular  movements,  and  we  seldom  find  them  interfering 
with  Christ  or  His  followers,  until  their  energies  were 
roused  by  the  preaching  of  His  Resurrection,  so  directly 
opposed  to  their  fundamental  doctrines. 

Their  appearance  now  is  extremely  natural.  The 
repulse  of  every  other  party  left  them  the  only  champions 
of  orthodoxy  against  the  new  movement,  with  every- 
thing to  win  by  success,  and  little  to  lose  by  failure. 
There  is  a  tone  of  quiet  and  confident  irony  in  their 
interrogation,  well  befitting  an  upper-class  group,  a 
secluded  party  of  refined  critics,  rather  than  practical 
teachers  with  a  mission  to  their  fellow-men.  They 
break  utterly  new  ground  by  raising  an  abstract  and 
subtle  question,  a  purely  intellectual  problem,  but  one 
which  reduced  the  doctrine  of  a  resurrection  to  an 
absurdity,  if  only  their  premises  can  be  made  good. 
And  this  peculiarity  is  often  overlooked  in  criticism  upon 
our  Lord's  answer.  Its  intellectual  subtlety  v/as  only 
the  adoption  by  Christ  of  the  weapons  of  his  adver- 
saries. But  at  the  same  time.  He  lays  great  and  special 
stress  upon  the  authority  of  Scripture,  in  this  encounter 
with  the  party  which  least  acknowledged  it. 


332  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

Their  objection,  stated  in  its  simplest  form,  is  the 
complication  which  would  result  if  the  successive  ties 
for  which  death  makes  room  must  all  revive  together 
when  death  is  abolished.  If  a  woman  has  married  a 
second  time,  whose  wife  shall  she  be  ?  But  their  state- 
ment of  the  case  is  ingenious,  not  only  because  they 
push  the  difficulty  to  an  absurd  and  ludicrous  extent, 
but  much  more  so  because  they  base  it  upon  a  Divine 
ordinance.  If  there  be  a  Resurrection,  Moses  must 
answer  for  all  the  confusion  that  will  ensue,  for  Moses 
gave  the  commandment,  by  virtue  of  which  a  woman 
married  seven  times.  No  offspring  of  any  union  gave 
it  a  special  claim  upon  her  future  life.  "  In  the  Resur- 
rection, whose  wife  shall  she  be  of  them  ?  "  they  ask, 
conceding  with  a  quiet  sarcasm  that  this  absurd  event 
must  needs  occur. 

For  these  conti-oversialists  the  question  was  solely  of 
the  physical  tie,  which  had  made  of  twain  one  flesh. 
They  had  no  conception  that  the  body  can  be  raised 
otherwise  than  as  it  perished,  and  they  rightly  enough 
felt  certain  that  on  such  a  resurrection  woeful  compli- 
cations must  ensue. 

Now  Jesus  does  not  rebuke  their  question  with  such 
stern  words  as  He  had  just  employed  to  others,  "  Why 
tempt  ye  me,  ye  hypocrites  ?  "  They  were  doubtless 
sincere  in  their  conviction,  and  at  least  they  had  not 
come  in  the  disguise  of  perplexed  inquirers  and  almost 
disciples.  He  blames  them,  but  more  gently  :  "  Is  it 
not  for  this  cause  that  ye  err,  because  ye  know  not  the 
Scriptures,  nor  the  power  of  God  ?  "  They  could  not 
know  one  and  not  the  other,  but  the  boastful  wisdom 
of  this  world,  so  ready  to  point  a  jibe  by  quoting  Moses, 
had  never  truly  grasped  the  meaning  of  the  writer  it 
appealed  to. 


Markxii.  iS-27.]     CHRIST  AND   THE  SADDUCEES.  333 

Jesus,  it  is  plain,  does  not  quote  Scripture  only  as 
having  'authority  with  His  opponents  :  He  accepts  it 
heartily  :  He  declares  that  human  error  is  due  to  ignor- 
ance of  its  depth  and  range  of  teaching  ;  and  He  recog- 
nizes the  full  roU  of  the  sacred  books  "the  Scriptures." 
It  has  rightly  been  said,  that  none  of  the  explicit 
statements,  commonly  relied  upon,  do  more  to  vindicate 
for  Holy  Writ  the  authority  of  our  Lord,  than  this 
simple  incidental  question. 

Jesus  proceeded  to  restate  the  doctrine  of  the  Resur- 
rection and  then  to  prove  it ;  and  the  more  His  brief 
words  are  pondered,  the  more  they  will  expand  and 
deepen. 

St.  Paul  has  taught  us  that  the  dead  in  Christ  shall 
rise  first  (i  Thess.  iv.  16).  Of  such  attainment  it  is 
written.  Blessed  and  holy  is  he  that  hath  part  in  the 
first  Resurrection  (Rev.  xx.  6). 

Now  since  among  the  lost  there  could  be  no  question 
of  family  ties,  and  consequent  embarrassments,  Jesus 
confines  His  statement  to  these  happy  ones,  of  whom 
the  Sadducee  could  think  no  better  than  that  their  new 
life  should  be  a  reproduction  of  their  existence  here, — 
a  theory  which  they  did  wisely  in  rejecting.   ^  He  uses 
the  very  language  taken  up  afterwards  by  His  apostle, 
and    says,    "V/hen    they    shall    rise    from    the   dead." 
And  He  asserts  that  marriage  is  at  an  end,  and  they 
are  as  the  angels  in  heaven.     Here  is  no  question  of 
the  duration  of  pure  and  tender  human  affection,  nor 
do  these  words  compromise  in  any  degree  the  hopes  of 
faitliful  hearts,  which  cling  to  one  another.     Surely  we 
may  believe  that  in  a  life  which  is  the  outcome  and  re- 
sultant of  this  life,  as  truly  as  the  grain  is  of  the  seed, 
in  a  life  also  where  nothing  shaU  be  forgotten,  but  on 
the  contrary  we  shall    know  what  we  know  not  now, 


334  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

there,  tracing  back  the  flood  of  their  immortal  energies 
to  obscure  fountains  upon  earth,  and  seeing  all  that  each 
has  owed  half  unconsciously  to  the  fidelity  and  wisdom 
of  the  other,  the  true  partners  and  genuine  helpmeets 
of  this  world  shall  for  ever  drink  some  peculiar  gladness, 
each  from  the  other's  joy.  There  is  no  reason  why  the 
close  of  formal  unions  which  include  the  highest  and 
most  perfect  friendships,  should  forbid  such  friendships 
to  survive  and  flourish  in  the  more  kindly  atmosphere 
of  heaven. 

What  Christ  asserts  is  simply  the  dissolution  of  the 
tie,  as  an  inevitable  consequence  of  such  a  change  in 
the  very  nature  of  the  blessed  ones  as  makes  the  tie 
incongruous  and  impossible.  In  point  of  fact,  marriage 
as  the  Sadducee  thought  of  it,  is  but  the  counterpoise 
of  death,  renewing  the  face  which  otherwise  would 
disappear,  and  when  death  is  swallowed  up,  it  vanishes 
as  an  anachronism.  In  heaven  "  they  are  as  the 
angels,"  the  body  itself  being  made  "a  spiritual  body," 
set  free  from  the  appetites  of  the  flesh,  and  in  harmony 
with  the  glowing  aspirations  of  the  Spirit,  which  now 
it  weighs" upon  and  retards.  If  any  would  object  that 
to  be  as  the  angels  is  to  be  without  a  body,  rather 
than  to  possess  a  spiritual  body,  it  is  answer  enough 
that  the  context  implies  the  existence  of  a  body,  since 
no  person  ever  spoke  of  a  resurrection  of  the  soul. 
Moreover  it  is  an  utterly  unwarrantable  assumption 
that  angels  are  wholly  without  substance.  Many  verses 
appear  to  imply  the  opposite,  and  the  cubits  of  measure- 
ment of  the  New  Jerusalem  were  "according  to  the 
measure  of  a  man,  that  is  of  an  angel"  (Rev.  xxi.  17), 
which  seems  to  assert  a  very  curious  similarity  indeed. 

The  objection  of  the  Sadducees  was  entirely  obviated, 
therefore ,  by   the   broader,  bolder,   and   more  spiritual 


Markxil.  IS-27.J     CHRIST  AND  THE  SADDUCEES.  335 

view  of  a  resurrection  whicli  Jesus  taught.  And  by 
far  the  greater  part  of  tlie  cavils  against  this  same 
doctrine  which  delight  the  infidel  lecturer  and  popular 
essayist  of  to-day  would  also  die  a  natural  death,  if  the 
free  and  spiritual  teaching  of  Jesus,  and  its  expansion 
by  St.  Paul,  were  understood.  But  we  breathe  a  wholly 
different  air  when  we  read  the  speculations  even  of  so 
great  a  thinker  as  St.  Augustine,  who  supposed  that  we 
should  rise  with  bodies  somewhat  greater  than  our 
present  ones,  because  all  the  hair  and  nails  we  ever 
trimmed  away  must  be  diffused  throughout  the  mass, 
lest  they  should  produce  deformity  by  their  excessive 
proportions  {Dc  Civitatc  Dei,  xxii.  19).  To  all  such 
speculation,  he  who  said,  To  every  seed  his  own  body, 
sa3's,  Thou  fool,  thou  sowest  not  that  body  that  shall  be. 
But  though  Jesus  had  met  these  questions,  it  did  not 
follow  that  His  doctrine  was  true,  merely  because  a 
certain  difficulty  did  not  apply.  And,  therefore.  He 
proceeded  to  prove  it  by  the  same  Moses  to  whom  they 
had  appealed,  and  whom  Jesus  distinctly  asserts  to  be 
the  author  of  the  book  of  Exodus.  God  said,  "  I  am 
the  God  of  Abraham,  and  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the 
God  of  Jacob.  He  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of 
the  living :  ye  do  greatly  err." 

The  argument  is  not  based  upon  the  present  tense 
of  the  verb  to  be  in  this  assertion,  for  in  the  Greek  the 
verb  is  not  expressed.  In  fact  the  argument  is  not  a 
verbal  one  at  all ;  or  else  it  would  be  satisfied  by  the 
doctrine  of  the  immortality  of  the  spirit,  and  would  not 
establish  any  resurrection  of  the  bod}^  It  is  based 
upon  the  im.mutability  of  God,  and,  therefore,  the  im- 
perishability of  all  that  ever  entered  into  vital  and  real 
relationship  with  Him.  To  cancel  such  a  relationship 
would  introduce  a  change  into  the  Eternal.    And  Moses, 


336  GOSPEL   OF  ST.    MARK'. 

to  whom  they  appealed,  had  heard  God  expressly 
proclaim  Himself  the  God  of  those  who  had  long  since 
passed  out  of  time.  It  was,  therefore,  clear  that  His 
relationship  with  them  lived  on,  and  this  guaranteed 
that  no  portion,  even  the  humblest,  of  their  true 
personality  should  perish.  Now  the  body  is  as  real  a 
part  of  humanity,  as  the  soul  and  spirit  are,  although  a 
much  lowlier  part.    And,  therefore,  it  must  not  really  die. 

It  is  solemn  to  observe  how  Jesus,  in  this  second 
part  of  His  argument,  passes  from  the  consideration  of 
the  future  of  the  blessed  to  that  of  all  mankind  ;  "  as 
touching  the  dead  that  they  are  raised."  With  others 
than  the  blessed,  therefore,  God  has  a  real  though  a 
dread  relationship.  And  it  will  prove  hard  to  reconcile 
this  argument  of  Christ  with  the  existence  of  any  time 
when  any  soul  shall  be  extinguished. 

"  The  body  is  for  the  Lord,"  said  St.  Paul,  arguing 
against  the  vices  of  the  flesh,  "and  the  Lord  for  the 
body,"  From  these  words  of  Christ  he  may  well  have 
learned  that  profound  and  far-reaching  doctrine,  which 
will  never  have  done  its  work  in  the  Church  and  in  the 
world,  until  whatever  defiles,  degrades,  or  weakens  that 
which  the  Lord  has  consecrated  is  felt  to  blaspheme 
by  implication  the  God  of  our  manhood,  unto  Whom 
all  our  life  ought  to  be  lived  ;  until  men  are  no  longer 
dwarfed  in  mines,  nor  poisoned  in  foul  air,  nor  massacred 
in  battle,  men  whose  intimate  relationship  with  God 
the  Eternal  is  of  such  a  kind  as  to  guarantee  the 
resurrection  of  the  poor  frames  which  we  destroy. 

How  much  more  does  this  great  proclamation  frown 
upon  the  sins  by  which  men  dishonour  their  own  flcsh. 
"  Know  ye  not,"  asked  the  apostle,  carrying  the  same 
doctrine  to  its  utmost  limit,  "  that  your  bodies  are  the 
temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  "     So  truly  is  God  our  God. 


Markxii.  2S-34-]     THE  DISCERNING  SCRIBE.  337 


THE    DISCERNING    SCRIHE. 

"  And  one  of  the  scribes  came,  and  heard  them  questioning  to- 
gether, and  knowing  that  He  had  answered  them  well,  asked  Him, 
What  commandment  is  the  first  of  all?  Jesus  answered,  Tlie  first  is, 
Hear,  O  Israel ;  The  Lord  our  God,  the  Lord  is  one  :  and  thou  shalt 
lovetbe  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and 
with  aljThy  mind,  and  with  all  thy  strength.  The  second  is  this  Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself.  There  is  none  other  commandment 
greater  than  these.  And  the  scribe  said  unto  Him,  Of  a  truth,  Master, 
Thou  hast  well  said  that  He  is  one  ;  and  there  is  none  other  but  He  : 
and  to  love  Him  with  all  the  heart,  and  with  all  the  understanding,  and 
with  all  the  strength,  and  to  love  his  neiglibour  as  himself,  is  much 
more  than  all  whole  burnt  offerings  and  sacrifices.  And  when  Jesus 
saw  that  he  answered  discreetly,  He  said  unto  him.  Thou  art  not  far 
from  the  kingdom  of  God.  And  no  man  after  that  durst  ask  Him  any 
question."— Mark  xii.  28-34  (R.V.). 

The  praise  which  Jesus  bestowed  upon  this  lawyer  is 
best  understood  when  we  talce  into  account  the  circum- 
stances, the  pressure  of  assailants  with  ensnaring 
questions,  the  sullen  disappointment  or  palpable  ex- 
asperation of  the  party  to  which  the  scribe  belonged. 
He  had  probably  sympathized  in  their  hostility ;  and 
had  come  expecting  and  desiring  the  discomfiture  of 
Jesus.  But  if  so,  he  was  a  candid  enemy  ;  and  as 
each  new  attempt  revealed  more  clearly  the  spiritual 
insight,  the  self-possession  and  balanced  wisdom  of 
Him  Who  had  been  represented  as  a  dangerous  fanatic, 
his  unfriendly  opinion  began  to  waver.  For  he  too 
was  at  issue  with  popular  views  :  he  had  learned  in 
the  Scriptures  that  God  desireth  not  sacrifice,  that 
incense  might  be  an  abomination  to  Him,  and  new 
moons  and  sabbaths  things  to  do  away  with.  And 
so,  perceiving  that  He  had  answered  them  well,  the 
scribe  asked,  upon  his  owh  account,  a  very  different 
question,  not  rarely  debated  in  their  schools,  and  often 

22 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


answered  with  grotesque  frivolity,  but  which  he  felt 
to  go  down  to  the  very  root  of  things.  Instead  of 
challenging  Christ's  authority,  he  tries  His  wisdom. 
Instead  of  striving  to  entangle  Him  in  dangerous 
politics,  or  to  assail  with  shallow  ridicule  the  problems 
of  the  life  to  come,  he  asks,  What  commandment  is  the 
first  of  all  ?  And  if  we  may  accept  as  complete  this 
abrupt  statement  of  his  interrogation,  it  would  seem  to 
have  been  drawn  from  him  by  a  sudden  impulse,  or 
wrenched  by  an  over-mastering  desire,  despite  of  re- 
luctance and  false  shame. 

The  Lord  answered  him  with  great  solemnity  and 
emphasis.  He  might  have  quoted  the  commandment 
only.  But  He  at  once  supported  the  precept  itself  and 
also  His  own  view  of  its  importance  by  including  the 
majestic  prologue,  "Hear,  O  Israel;  the  Lord  our  God, 
the  Lord  is  one ;  and  thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God 
with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all 
thy  mind,  and  with  all  thy  strength." 

The  unity  of  God,  what  a  massive  and  reassuring 
thought  !  Amid  the  debasements  of  idolatry,  with  its 
deification  of  every  impulse  and  every  force,  amid  the 
distractions  of  chance  and  change,  seemingly  so  capri- 
cious and  even  discordant,  amid  the  complexities  of  the 
universe  and  its  phenomena,  there  is  wonderful  strength 
and  wisdom  in  the  reflection  that  God  is  one.  All 
changes  obey  His  hand  which  holds  the  rein  ;  by  Him 
the  worlds  were  made.  The  exiled  patriarch  was 
overv/helmed  by  the  majesty  of  the  revelation  that  his 
fathers'  God  was  God  in  Bethel  even  as  in  Beer-sheba  : 
it  charmed  away  the  bitter  sense  of  isolation,  it  un- 
sealed in  him  the  fountains  of  worship  and  trust,  and 
sent  him  forward  with  a  new  hope  of  protection  and 
prosperity.     The  unity  of  God,  really  apprehended,  is 


Ma>kKii.2S-34.]     THE   DISCERNING  SCRIBE.  339 

a    basis  for    the   human  will  to   repose   "P^^'    ^^   ^^ 
become     self-consistent    and    at    peace.       It    vvas     the 
parent  of  the  fruitful   doctrine  of  the  umty  of  natu.e 
^Ich  underlies  all  the  scientific  victories  of  the  modern 
woldd.     In   religion,   St.   Paul  felt  that   .t  nr^es   H  e 
equal  treatment  of  all  the  human  race,  when  h^  asked 
\.  He  the  God  of  Jews  only?     Is  He  not  the  God 
of  Gentiles  also  ?     Yea,  of  Gentiles  also,  xf  so  be  that 
God  is  one  "  (Rom  iii.  29  R-V.)-     To  be  one,  he  seem 
to  say,  implies  being  universal  also.     And   if   it  thus 
excludes  the  reprobation  of  races,  it  dispro.^s  equal  y 
that  of  individual  souls,  and  aU  thought  of  such  uix- 
equal  and  partial  treatment  as  should  mspire  one  wih 
hope  of  indulgence  in  guilt,  or  with  fear  that  his  way 
is  hid  from  the  Lord.  _ 

But  if  this  be  true,  if  there  be  one  fountain  of  all 
life  and  loveliness  and  joy,  of  all  human  tenderness  and 
all  moral  glory,  how  are  we  bound  to  love  Him.     Every 
other  affection  should  only  deepen  our  adoring  loyalty 
to  Him  Who  gives  it.     Nc)  cgkl  OL-Jormal  service  can 
meet  HiscUim,  Who  gives   us   the   power  to    serve. 
NTl^T^^^^^ve  Him.     And  as  all  our  nature  comes 
fT^^THh^T^ri^^^  all    be    consecrated  :    that    love 
must  embrace    all  the  affections  of  "  heart  and  soul 
panting  after  Him,  as  the  hart  after  the  waterbrooks^; 
and  aU  the  deep  and  steady  convictions  of  the  "  mmd, 
musino-  on  the  work  of  His  hand,  able  to  give  a  reason 
for    it^   faith;    and    all    the    practical    homage    of    the 
"  stren-th,"  living  and  dying  to  the  Lord.     How  easy, 
then   would  be  the  fulfilment  of  His  commandments  m 
detail,  and  how  surely  it  would  follow.     All  the  pre- 
cepts of  the  first  table  are  clearly  implied  in  this. 

In    =uch    another   commandment   were    summed    up 
also    the    precepts    which    concerned    our    neighbour 


340  GOSPEL   OF  ST.  MARK. 

When  we  love  him  as  ourselves  (neither  exaggerating 
his  claims  beyond  our  own,  nor  allowing  our  own  to 
trample  upon  his),  then  we  shall  work  no  ill  to  our 
neighbour,  and  so  love  shall  fulfil  the  law.  There  is 
none  other  commandment  greater  than  these. 

The  questioner  saw  all  the  nobility  of  this  reply  ; 
and  the  disdain,  the  anger,  and  perhaps  the  persecution 
of  his  associates  could  not  prevent  him  from  an  admiring 
and  reverent  repetition  of  the  Saviour's  words,  and  an 
avowal  that  all  the^ceremonial  observances  of  Judaism 
vvere_as  nothing  compared  with  this. 

While  he  was  thus  judging,  he  v;as  being  judged. 
As  he  knew  that  Jesus  had  answered  well,  so  Jesus 
saw  that  he  answered  discreetly  ;  and  in  view  of  his  un- 
prejudiced judgment,  his  spiritual  insight,  and  his  frank 
approval  of  One  Who  was  then  despised  and  rejected, 
He  said.  Thou  art  not  far  from  the  kingdom  of  God. 
But  he  was  not  yet  within  it,  and  no  man  knows  his  fate. 

Sad  yet  instructive  it  is  to  think  that  he  may  havej 
won  the  approval  of  Christ,  and  heard  His  words,  so 
full  of  discernment  and  of  desire  for  his  adherence,  and 
yet  never  crossed  the  invisible  and  mysterious  boundary 
which  he  then  approached  so  'nearly.  But  we  also  may 
know,  and  admire,  and  confess  the  greatness  and 
goodness  of  Jesus,  without  forsaking  all  to  follow  Him 

His  enemies  had  been  defeated  and  put  to  shame, 
their  murderous  hate  had  been  denounced,  and  the  nets 
of  their  cunning  had  been  rent  like  cobwebs ;  they  had 
seen  the  heart  of  one  of  their  own  order  kindled  into 
open  admiration,  and  they  henceforth  renounced  as 
hopeless  the  attempt  to  conquer  Jesus  in  debate.  No 
man  after  that  durst  ask  Him  any  questions. 

He  will  now  carry  the  war  into  their  own  country. 
It  will  be  for  them  to  answer  Jesus. 


*/ 


Markxii.  35-40.]  DAVID'S  LORD.  341 


DAVIDS  LORD. 

"  And  Jesus  answered  and  said,  as  He  taught  in  the  temple,  How  say 
the  scribes  that  the  Christ  is  the  Son  of  David  ?  David  himself  said  in 
tlie  Holy  Spirit, — 

Tire  Lord  said  unto  my  Lord, 

Sit  Thou  on  my  right  hand. 

Till  I  make  Thine  enemies  the  footstool  of  Thy  feet. 
David  himself  calleth  Him  Lord  ;  and  whence  is  He  His  son?  And 
the  common  people  heard  Him  gia^.^"  And  in  His  teaching  He  said, 
Beware  of  the  scribes,  which  desire  to  walk  in  long  robes,  and  to  have 
salutations  in  the  marketplaces,  and  chief  seats  in  the  synagogues,  and 
chief  places  at  feasts  :  they  which  devour  widows'  houses,  and  for  a 
pretence  make  long  prayers  ;  these  shall  receive  greater  condemnation. 
Mark  xii.  35-40  (R.V.). 

Jesus,  having  silenced  in  turn  His  official  interrogators 
and  the  Sadducees,  and  won  the  heart  of  His  honest 
questioner,  proceeded  to  submit  a  searching  problem  to 
His  assailants.  Whose  son  was  the  Messiah  ?  And 
when  they  gave  Him  an  obvious  and  shallow  answer, ' 
He  covered  them  with  confusion  publicly.  The  event 
is  full  of  that  dramatic  interest  which  St.  Mark  is  so 
well  able  to  discern  and  reproduce.  How  is  it  then 
that  he  passes  over  atl  this  aspect  of  it,  leaves  us 
ignorant  of  the  defeat  and  even  of  the  presence  of  the 
scribes,  and  free  to  suppose  that  Jesus  stated  the  whole 
problem  in  one  long  question,  possibly  without  an 
opponent  at  hand  to  feel  its  force  ? 

This  is  a  remarkable  proof  that  his  concern  was  not 
really  for  the  pictorial  elem.ent  in  the  story,  but  for  the 
manifestation  of  the  power  of  his  blaster,  the  "  authority  " 
which  resounds  through  his  opening  chapters,  the 
royalty  wh'"'-"  he  exhibits  at  the  close.  To  him  the 
vital  point  is  that  Jesus,  upon  openly  claiming  to  be  the 
Christ,  and  repelling  the  vehement  attacks  v/hich  were 


342  GOSPEL    OF  ST.  MARK. 


made  upon  Him  as  such,  proceeded  to  unfold  the 
astonishing  greatness  which  this  impHed ;  and  that 
after  asserting  the  unity  of  God  and  His  claim  upon  all 
hearts,  He  demonstrated  that  the  Christ  was  sharer  ot 
His  throne. 

The  Christ,  the}'  said,  was  the  Son  of  David,  and  this 
was  not  false :  Jesus  had  wrought  many  miracles  for 
suppliants  who  addressed  Him  by  that  title.  But 
was  it  all  the  truth  ?  How  then  did  David  call  Him 
Lord  ?  A  greater  than  David  might  spring  from 
among  his  descendants,  and  hold  rule  by  an  original 
and  not  merely  an  ancestral  claim  :  He  might  not  reign 
as  a  son  of  David.  Yet  this  would  not  explain  the  fact 
that  David,  who  died  ages  before  His  coming,  was  in- 
spired to  call  Him  My  Lord.  Still  less  would  it  satisfy 
the  assertion  that  God  had  bidden  Him  sit  beside  Him 
on  His  throne.  For  the  scribes  there  was  a  serious 
warning  in  the  promise  that  His  enemies  should  be 
made  His  footstool,  and  for  all  the  people  a  startling 
revelation  in  the  words  which  follow,  and  which  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  has  unfolded,  making  this  Son 
of  David  a  priest  for  ever,  after  another  order  than  that 
of  Aaron. 

No  wonder  that  the  multitude  heard  with  gladness 
teaching  at  once  so  original,  so  pi-ofound,  and  so  clearly 
justified  by  Scripture. 

But  it  must  be  observed  how  remarkably  this  ques- 
tion of  Jesus  follows  up  His  conversation  with  the 
scribe.  Then  He  had  based  the  supreme  duty  of  love 
to  God  upon  the  supreme  doctrine  of  the  Divine  Unity. 
He  now  proceeds  to  show  that  the  throne  of  Deity 
is  not  a  lonely  throne,  and  to  demand,  Whose  Son  is 
He  Who  shares  it,  and  Whom  David  in  Spirit  accosts 
by  the  same  title  as  his  God  ? 


Markxii.  4I-44-]  THE    IVIDOIV'S   MITE.  343 

St.  Mark  is  now  content  to  give  the  merest  indica- 
tion of  the  final  denunciation  with  which  the  Lord 
turned  His  baclv  upon  the  scribes  of  Jerusalem,  as  He 
previously  broke  with  those  of  Galilee.  But  it  is 
enough  to  show  how  utterly  beyond  compromise  was 
the  rupture.  The  people  were  to  beware  of  them  : 
their  selfish  objects  were  betrayed  in  their  very  dress, 
and  their  desire  for  respectful  salutations  and  seats  of 
honour.  Their  pra3'ers  were  a  pretence,  and  they 
devoured  widows'  houses,  acquiring  under  the  cloke  of 
religion  what  should  have  maintained  the  friendless. 
But  their  affected  piety  would  only  bring  upon  them 
a  darker  doom. 

It  is  a  tremendous  impeachment.  None  is  entitled 
to  speak  as  Jesus  did,  who  is  unable  to  read  hearts  as 
Pie  did.  And  yet  we  may  learn  from  it  that  mere  soft- 
ness is  not  the  meekness  Fie  demands,  and  that,  when 
sinister  motives  are  beyond  doubt,  the  spirit  of  Jesus 
is  the  spirit  of  burning. 

There  is  an  indulgence  for  the  wrongdoer  which  is 
mere  feebleness  and  half  compliance,  and  which  shares 
in  the  guilt  of  Eli.  And  there  is  a  dreadful  anger 
which  sins  not,  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb. 

THE    WIDOW'S  MITE. 

"And  He  sat  down  over  against  the  treasury,  and  beheld  how  the 
multitude  cast  money  into  the  treasury  :  and  many  that  were  rich  cast 
in  much.  And  there  came  a  poor  widow,  and  she  cast  in  two  mites, 
which  make  a  farthing.  And  He  called  unto  Him  His  disciples,  and 
said  unto  them,  Verily  I  say  unto  you.  This  poor  widow  casi  in  more 
than  all  they  which  are  casting  into  the  treasury  ;  for  they  all  did  cast 
in  of  their  superfluity  ;  but  she  of  her  want  did  cast  in  all  that  she  had, 
even  all  her  living." — Mark  xii.  41-44  (R.V.). 

With  words  of  stern  denunciation  Jesus  for  ever  left 
the   temple.     Yet   He  lingered,  as  if  reluctant,  in  the 


344  GOSPEL   OF  ST.  MARK. 

outer  court ;  and  while  the  storm  of  His  wrath  was 
still  resounding  in  all  hearts,  observed  and  pointed  out 
an  action  of  the  lowliest  beaut}',  a  modest  flower  of 
Hebrew  piety  in  the  vast  desert  of  formality.  It  was 
not  too  modest,  however,  to  catch,  even  in  that  agitating 
hour,  the  eye  of  Jesus  ;  and  while  the  scribes  were 
devouring  widows'  houses,  a  poor  widow  could  still, 
with  two  mites  which  make  a  farthing,  win  honourable 
mention  from  the  Son  of  God.  Thus  He  ever  observes 
realities  among  pretences,  the  pure  flame  of  love  amid 
the  sour  smoke  w^hich  wreathes  around  it.  What  He 
saw  was  the  last  pittance,  cast  to  a  service  which  in 
reality  was  no  longer  God's,  yet  given  with  a  noble 
earnestness,  a  sacrifice  pure  from  the  heart. 

1.  His  praise  suggests  to  us  the  unknown  observa- 
tion, the  unsuspected  influences  which  surround  us. 
She  little  guessed  herself  to  be  the  one  figure,  amid  a 
glittering  group  and  where  many  were  rich,  who  really 
interested  the  all-seeing  Eye.  She  went  away  again, 
quite  unconscious  that  the  Lord  had  converted  her  two 
mites  into  a  perennial  wealth  of  contentment  for  lowly 
hearts,  and  instruction  for  the  Church,  quite  ignorant 
that  she  was  approved  of  Messiah,  and  that  her  little 
gift  was  the  greatest  event  of  all  her  story.  So  are  we 
watched  and  judged  in  our  least  conscious  and  our 
most  secluded  hours. 

2.  We  learn  St.  Paul's  lesson,  that,  "  if  the  readiness 
is  there,  it  is  acceptable  according  as  a  man  hath,  and 
not  according  as  he  hath  not." 

In  war,  in  commerce,  in  the  senate,  how  often  does 
an  accident  at  the  outset  blight  a  career  for  ever.  One 
is  taken  in  the  net  of  circumstances,  and  his  clipped 
wings  can  never  soar  again.  But  there  is  no  such 
disabling    accident  in  religion.     God  seeth   the  heart. 


Maikxii.4i-44.]         THE    WIDOW'S  MITE.  345 

The  world  was  redeemed  by  the  bUglited  and  thwarted 
career  of  One  Who  would  fain  have  gathered  His  own 
city  under  His  wing,  but  was  refused  and  frustrated. 
And  whether  we  cast  in  much,  or  only  possess  two 
mites,  an  offering  for  the  rich  to  mock,  He  marks, 
understands,  and  estimates  aright. 

And  while  the  world  only  sees  the  quantity,  He 
weighs  the  motive  of  our  actions.  This  is  the  true 
reason  why  we  can  judge  nothing  before  the  time,  why 
the  great  benefactor  is  not  really  pointed  out  by  the 
splendid  benefaction,  and  why  many  that  are  last  shall 
yet  be  first,  and  the  first  last. 

3.  The  poor  v/idow  gave  not  a  greater  proportion  of 
her  goods,   she  gave  all  ;    and    it  has  been  often  re- 
marked that  she  had  still,  in  her  poverty,  the  oppor- 
tunity of  keeping  back  one  half.     But  her  heart  went 
with  her  two  mites.     And,  therefore,  she  was  blessed. 
We  may  picture   her  return  to   her  sordid   drudgery, 
unaware  of  the  meaning  of   the  new  light   and  peace 
which  followed  her,   and  why  her  heart  sang  for  joy. 
We  may  think  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ  which  was  in  her. 
leading   her   afterwards  into  the  Church  of  Christ,  an 
obscure  and  perhaps  illiterate  convert,  undistinguished 
by  any  special  gift,  and  only  loved  as  the  first  Chris- 
tians all  loved  each  other.     And  we  may  think  of  her 
now,  where  the  secrets  of  all  hearts  are  made  known, 
followed  by  myriads  of  the  obscure  and  undistinguished 
whom  her  story  has  sustained  and  cheered,  and  by  sonvi 
who    knew  her  upon    earth,    and    were    astonished    to 
learn  that  this  was  she.     Then  let  us  ask  ourselves,  1j 
there  any  such  secret  of  unobtrusive  lov/ly  service,  born 
of  love,  which  the  future  will  associate  with  me? 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

THINGS  PERISHING  AND    THINGS  STABLE. 

"  And  as  He  went  forth  out  of  the  temple,  one  of  Ilis  disciples  saith 
unto  Him,  Waster,  behold,  what  manner  of  stones  and  what  manner  of 
buildin^Qs  !  And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Seest  thou  these  great  buildings? 
there  shall  not  be  left  here  one  stone  upon  another,  which  shall  not  be 
thrown  down.  And  as  He  sat  on  the  Mount  of  Olives  over  against  the 
temple,  Peter  and  James  and  John  and  Andrew  asked  Him  privately, 
Tell  us,  when  shall  these  things  be  ?  and  what  s/iall  he  the  sign  when 
these  things  are  all  about  to  be  accomplished  ?  And  Jesus  began  to 
sajf  unto  them,  Take  heed  that  no  man  lead  you  astray.  Many  shall 
come  in  My  name,  saying,  I  am  He  ;  and  shall  lead  many  astraj'.  And 
when  ye  shall  hear  of  wars  and  rumours  of  wars,  be  not  troubled  :  these 
thiuv-s  must  needs  come  to  pass  :  but  the  end  is  not  yet."— Mark  xiii. 
1-7  ^'(R.V.). 

I  OTHING  is  more  impressive  than  to  stand  before 
one  of  the  great  buildings  of  the  world,  and  mark 
how  the  toil  of  man  has  rivalled  the  stability  of  nature, 
and  his  thought  its  grandeur.  It  stands  up  like  a  crag, 
and  the  wind  whistles  through  its  pinnacles  as  in  a 
grove,  and  the  rooks  float  and  soar  about  its  towers 
as  they  do  among  the  granite  peaks.  Face  to  face 
vith  one  of  these  mighty  structures,  man  feels  his  own 
pettiness,  shivering  in  the  wind,  or  seeking  a  shadow 
IVom  the  sun,  and  thinking  how  even  this  breeze  may 
blight  or  this  heat  fever  him,  and  how  at  the  longest 
he  shall  have  crumbled  into  dust  for  ages,  and  his 
name,  and  possibly  his  race,  have  perished,  while  this 


Markxlii.  1-7.]     THINGS  FERISHING  AND  STABLE.  347 

same   pile  shall  stretch  the  same  long  shadow  across 
the  plain. 

No  wonder  that  the  great  masters  of  nations  have 
all  delighted  in  building,  for  thus  they  saw  their  power, 
and  the  immortality  for  which  the}'  hoped,  made  solid, 
embodied  and  substantial,  and  it  almost  seemed  as  if 
they  had  blended  their  memory  with  the  enduring 
fabric  of  the  world. 

Such  a  building,  solid,  and  vast,  and  splendid,  white 
with  marble,  and  blazing  with  gold,  was  the  temple 
which  Jesus  now  forsook.  A  little  afterwards,  we  read 
that  its  Roman  conqueror,  whose  race  were  the  great 
builders  of  the  world,  in  spite  of  the  rules  of  war,  and 
the  certainty  that  the  Jews  would  never  remain  quietly 
in  subjection  while  it  stood,  "  was  reluctant  to  burn 
down  so  vast  a  work  as  this,  since  this  would  be  a 
mischief  to  the  Romans  themselves,  as  it  would  be  an 
ornament  to  their  government  while  it  lasted." 

No  wonder,  then,  that  one  of  the  disciples,  who  had 
seen  Jesus  weep  for  its  approaching  ruin,  and  who  now 
followed  His  steps  as  He  left  it  desolate,  lingered,  and 
spoke  as  if  in  longing  and  appeal,  "  Master,  see  what 
manner  of  stones,  and  what  manner  of  buildings." 

But  to  the  eyes  of  Jesus  all  was  evanescent  as  a 
bubble,  doomed  and  about  to  perish  :  "  Seest  thou 
these  great  buildings,  there  shall  not  be  left  here  one 
stone  upon  another  that  shall  not  be  thrown  down." 

The  words  were  appropriate  to  His  solemn  mood, 
for  He  had  just  denounced  its  guilt  and  flung  its 
splendour  from  Him,  calling  it  no  longer  "  RIy  house," 
nor  "My  Father's  house,"  but  saying,  "Your  house 
is  left  unto  you  desolate."  Little  could  all  the  solid 
strength  of  the  very  foundations  of  the  world  itself 
avail   against  the   thunderbolt  of  God.      Moreover,   it 


34S  GOSPEL   OF  ST.   MARK. 

was  a  time  when  He  felt  most  keenl}'  the  consecration, 
the  approaching  surrender  of  His  own  hfe.  In  such 
an  hour  no  splendours  distract  the  penetrating  vision  ; 
all  the  world  is  brief  and  frail  and  hollow  to  the  man 
who  has  consciously  given  himself  to  God.  It  was  the 
fitting  moment  at  which  to  utter  such  a  prophecy. 

But,  as  He  sat  on  the  opposite  slope,  and  gazed  back 
upon  the  towers  that  Vv'ere  to  fall,  His  three  favoured 
disciples  and  Andrew  came  to  ask  Him  privately  when 
should  these  things  be,  and  what  would  be  the  sign  of 
their  approach. 

It  is  the  common  assertion  of  all  unbelievers  that 
the  prophecy  which  followed  has  been  composed  since 
what  passes  for  its  fulfilment.  When  Jesus  v^'as 
murdered,  and  a  terrible  fate  befel  the  guilty  city, 
what  more  natural  than  to  connect  the  two  events  ? 
And  how  easily  would  a  legend  spring  up  that  the 
sufferer  foretold  the  penalty?  But  there  is  an  obvious 
and  complete  reply.  The  prediction  is  too  mysterious, 
its  outlines  are  too  obscure  ;  and  the  ruin  of  Jerusalem 
is  too  inexplicably  complicated  with  the  final  visitation 
of  the  whole  earth,  to  be  the  issue  of  any  vindictive 
imagination  working  with  the  history  in  view. 

"We  are  sometimics  tempted  to  complain  of  this 
obscurit)^.  But  in  truth  it  is  wholesome  and  designed. 
We  need  not  ask  whether  the  original  discourse  was 
thus  ambiguous,  or  they  are  right  who  suppose  that  a 
veil  has  since  been  drawn  betv.een  us  and  a  portion  of 
the  answer  given  by  Jesus  to  His  disciples.  We  knuv/ 
as  much  as  it  is  meant  that  we  should  know.  And 
this  at  least  is  plain,  that  any  process  of  conscious  or 
unconscious  invention,  working  backwards  after  Jeru- 
salem fell,  would  have  given  us  far  more  explicit 
predictions    th.an    we    possess.       And,    moreover,    that 


Mark  xiii.  1-7.]     THINGS  PERISHING  Al^D  STABLE.  3io 

what  we  lose   in   gratification  of  our  curiosity,  we  gam 
in  personal  warning  to  walk  warily  and  vigilantly. 

Jesus  did  not  answer  the  question,  When  shall  these 
thino-s  be  ?  But  He  declared,  to  men  who  wondered 
"t  die  overthrow  of  their  splendid  temple,  that  all 
earthly  splendours  must  perish.  And  He  revealed  to 
them  where  true  permanence  may  be  discovered. 
These  are  two  of  the  central  thouglits  of  the  discourse, 
and  they  are  worthy  of  much  more  attention  from  its 
students  than  they  commonly  receive,  being  overlooked 
in  the  universal  eagerness  "to  know  the  times  and 
the  seasons."  They  come  to  the  surface  in  the  distinct 
words,  "  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away,  but  My 
words  shall  not  pass  away." 

Now,  if  we  are  to  think  of  this  great' prophecy  as  a 
lurid  reflection  thrown  back  by  later  superstition  on 
the  storm-clouds  of  the  nation's  fall,  how  shall  we 
account  for  its  solemn  and  pensive  mood,  utterly  free 
from  vindictiveness,  entirely  suited  to  Jesus  as  we 
think  of  Him,  when  leaving  for  ever  the  dishonoured 
shrine,  and  moving  forward,  as  His  meditations  would 
surely'  do,  beyond  the  occasion  which  evoked  them  ? 
Not  such'  is  the  manner  of  resentful  controversialists, 
eagerly  tracing  imaginary  judgments.  They  are  narrow, 
and  sharp,  and  sour. 

I.  The  fall  of  Jerusalem  blended  itself,  in  the  thought 
of  Jesus,  with  the  catastrophe  which  awaits  all  that  ap- 
pears to 'be  great  and  stable.  Nation  shall  rise  against 
nation,  and  kingdom  against  kingdom,  so  that,  although 
armies  set  their  bodies  in  the  gap  for  these,  and  heroes 
shed  their  blood  like  water,  yet  they  are  divided  among 
themselves  and  cannot  stand.  This  prediction,  v/e  must 
remember,  was  made  when  the  iron  yoke  of  Rome  im- 
posed quiet  upon  as  much  of  the  world  as  a  Galilean 


3 so  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

was  likely  to  take  into  account,  and,  therefore,  was  by 
no  means  so  easy  as  it  may  now  appear  to  us. 

Nature  itself  should  be  convulsed.  Earthquakes 
should  rend  the  earth,  blight  and  famine  should  disturb 
the  regular  course  of  seed-time  and  liarvest.  And  these 
perturbations  should  be  the  working  out  of  a  stern  law, 
and  the  sure  token  of  sorer  woes  to  come,  the  begin- 
ning of  pangs  which  should  usher  in  another  dispensa- 
tion, the  birth-agony  of  a  new  time.  A  little  later,  and 
the  sun  should  be  darkened,  and  the  moon  should  with- 
draw her  light,  and  the  stars  should  "  be  falling"  from 
heaven,  and  the  powers  that  are  in  the  heavens  should 
be  darkened.  Lastly,  the  course  of  history  should  close, 
and  the  affairs  of  earth  should  come  to  an  end,  when 
the  elect  should  be  gathered  together  to  the  glorified 
Son  of  Man. 

2.  It  was  in  sight  of  the  ruin  of  all  these  things  that 
He  dared  to  add,   My  word  shall  not  pass  away. 

Heresy  should  assail  it,  for  many  should  come  in  the 
name  of  Christ,  saying,  I  am  He,  and  should  lead  many 
astray.  Fierce  persecutions  should  try  His  followers, 
and  they  should  be  led  to  judgment  and  delivered  up. 
The  worse  afflictions  of  the  heart  would  wring  them, 
for  brother  should  deliver  up  brother  to  death,  and 
the  father  his  child,  and  children  should  rise  up  against 
parents  and  cause  them  to  be  put  to  death.  But  all 
should  be  too  little  to  quench  the  immortality  bestowed 
upon  His  elect.  In  their  sore  need,  the  H0I3'  Ghost 
should  speak  in  them  :  when  they  were  caused  to  be 
put  to  death,  he  that  endureth  to  the  end,  the  same 
shall  be  saved. 

Now  these  words  were  treasured  up  as  the  utterances 
of  One  Who  had  just  foretold  His  own  approaching 
murder,  and  Who  died  accordingly  amid  circumstances 


Markxiii.  8-i6.]     THE   IMPENDING  JUDGMENT.  351 

full  of  horror  and  shame.  Yet  His  followers  rejoiced 
to  think  that  when  the  sun  grew  dark,  and  the  stars 
were  falling,  He  should  be  seen  in  the  clouds  coming 
with  great   glory. 

It  is  the  reversal  of  human  judgment :  the  announce- 
ment that  all  is  stable  which  appears  unsubstantial, 
and  all  which  appears  solid  is  about  to  melt  like  snow. 

And  yet  the  world  itself  has  since  grown  old  enough 
to  know  that  convictions  are  stronger  than  empires,  and 
truths  than  armed  hosts.  And  this  is  the  King  of 
Truth.  He  was  born  and  came  into  the  world  to  bear 
witness  to  the  truth,  and  every  one  that  is  of  the  truth 
heareth  His  voice.  He  is  the  Truth  become  vital,  the 
Word  which  was  with  God  in  the  beginning. 

THE  IMPENDING  JUDGMENT. 

"  For  nation  sliall  rise  against  nation,  and  kingdom  against  Icing- 
dom  ;  tliere  shall  be  earthquakes  in  divers  places ;  there  shall  be 
famines  :  these  things  are  the  beginning  of  travail.  But  take  ye  heed 
to  yourselves  :  for  they  shall  deliver  you  up  to  councils ;  and  in 
synagogues  shall  ye  be  beaten  ;  and  before  governors  and  kings  shall  ye 
stand  for  JNIy  sake,  for  a  testimony  nnto  them.  And  the  gospel  must 
first  be  preached  unto  all  the  nations.  And  when  they  lead  you  to 
judgment,  and  deli\er  you  up.  be  not  anxious  beforehand  what  ye  shall 
speak  :  but  whatsoever  shall  be  given  you  in  that  hour,  that  speak  ye  : 
for  it  is  not  ye  that  speak,  but  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  brother  siiall 
deliver  up  brother  to  death,  and  the  father  his  child  ;  and  children 
shall  rise  up  against  parents,  and  cause  them  to  be  put  to  death.  And 
ye  shall  be  hated  of  all  men  for  My  name's  sake ;  but  he  that  endureth 
to  the  end,  the  same  shall  be  saved.  But  when  ye  see  tlie  abomination 
of  desolation  standing  where  he  ought  not  (let  him  that  readeth  under- 
stand), then  let  them  that  are  in  Judrea  flee  unto  the  mountains  :  and 
let  him  that  is  on  the  housetop  not  go  down,  nor  enter  in,  to  take 
anything  out  of  his  house :  and  let  htm  that  is  in  the  field  not  return 
back  to  take  his  cloke." — jNIaric  xiii.  S-16  (R.V.). 

When  we  perceive  that  one  central  thought  in  our 
Lord's   discourse  about  the  last  things  is  the  contrast 


352  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

between  material  things  which  are  fleeting,  and  spiritual 
realities  which  abide,  a  question  naturally  arises,  whicli 
ought  not  to  be  overlooked.  Was  the  prediction  itself 
anything  more  than  a  result  of  profound  spiritual 
insight  ?  Are  we  certain  that  prophec}'^  in  general  was 
more  than  keenness  of  vision  ?  There  are  flourishing 
empires  now  which  perhaps  a  keen  politician,  and  cer- 
tainly a  firm  believer  in  retributive  justice  governing 
the  world,  must  consider  to  be  doomed.  And  one  who 
felt  the  transitory  nature  of  earthly  resources  might 
expect  a  time  when  the  docks  of  London  will  resemble 
the  lagoons  of  Venice,  and  the  State  which  now  pre- 
dominates in  Europe  shall  become  partaker  of  the 
decrepitude  Spain.  But  no  such  presage  is  a  prophecy 
in  the  Christian  sense.  Even  when  suggested  by  reli- 
gion, it  does  not  claim  any  greater  certainty  than  that 
of  sagacious  inference. 

The  general  question  is  best  met  by  pointing  to  such 
specific  and  detailed  prophecies,  especially  concerning 
the  Messiah,  as  the  twenty-second  Psalm,  the  fifty-third 
of  Isaiah,  and  the  ninth  of  Daniel. 

But  the  prediction  of  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  while  we 
have  seen  that  it  has  none  of  the  minuteness  and 
sharpness  of  an  after-thought,  is  also  too  definite  for  a 
presentiment.  The  abomination  which  defiled  the  Holy 
Place,  and  yet  left  one  last  brief  opportunity  for  hasty 
flight,  the  persecutions  by  which  that  catastrophe 
would  be  heralded,  and  the  precipitating  of  the  crisis  for 
the  elect's  sake,  were  details  not  to  be  conjectured.  So 
was  the  coming  of  the  great  retribution,  the  beginning 
of  His  kingdom  within  that  generation,  a  limit  which 
was  foretold  at  least  twice  besides  (Mark  ix.  I  and  xiv. 
62),  with  which  the  "henceforth"  in  Matthew  xxvi.  64 
must  be  compared.      And  so  was  another  circumstance 


Markxiii.  8-i6.]     THE   IMPENDING  JUDGMENT.  353 


which  is  not  enough  considered  :  the  fact  that  between 
the  fall  of  Jerusalem  and  the  Second  Coming,  however 
long  or  short  the  interval,  no  second  event  of  a  similar 
character,  so  universal  in  its  effect  upon  Christianity, 
so  epoch-making,  should  intervene.  The  coming  of 
the  Son  of  man  should  be  "  in  those  days  after  that 
tribulation." 

The  intervening  centuries  layout  like  a  plain  country 
between  two  mountain  tops,  and  did  not  break  the  vista, 
as  the  eye  passed  from  the  judgment  of  the  ancient 
Church,  straight  on  to  the  judgment  of  the  world. 
Shall  we  say  then  that  Jesus  foretold  that  His  coming 
would  follow  speedily  ?  and  that  He  erred  ?  Men  have 
been  very  willing  to  bring  this  charge,  even  in  the  face 
of  His  explicit  assertions.  "  After  a  long  time  the 
Lord  of  that  servant  cometh.  .  .  While  the  bridegroom 
tarried  they  all  slumbered  and  slept.  ...  If  that  wicked 
servant  shall  say  in  his  heart.  My  Lord  delayeth  His 
coming." 

It  is  true  that  these  expressions  are  not  found  in 
St.  Mark.  But  instead  of  them  stands  a  sentence  so 
startling,  so  unique,  that  it  has  caused  to  ill-instructed 
orthodoxy  great  searchings  of  heart.  At  least,  how- 
ever, the  flippant  pretence  that  Jesus  fixed  an  early 
date  for  His  return,  ought  to  be  silenced  when  we  read, 
"  Of  that  day  or  that  hour  knoweth  no  one,  not  even 
the  angels  of  heaven,  nor  the  Son,  but  the  Father." 

These  words  are  not  more  surprising  than  that  He 
increased  in  wisdom  ;  and  marvelled  at  the  faith  of  some, 
and  the  unbelief  of  others  (Luke  ii.  52  ;  Matt.  vih.  lO; 
Mark  vi.  6).  They  are  involved  in  the  great  assertion, 
that  He  not  only  took  the  form  of  a  servant,  but  emptied 
Himself  (Phil.  ii.  7).  But  tliey  decide  the  question 
of  the  genuineness  of   the  discourse ;  for  when  could 

21 


354  GOSPEL   OF  ST.   MARK. 

they  have  been  invented  ?  And  they  are  to  be  taken 
in  connection  with  others,  which  speak  of  Him  not 
in  His  low  estate,  but  as  by  nature  and  inherently, 
the  Word  and  the  Wisdom  of  God  ;  aware  of  all  that 
the  Father  doeth  ;  and  Him  in  Whom  dwelleth  all  the 
fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily  (John  i.  i  ;  Luke  xi.  49  ; 
John  V.  20 ;  Col.  ii.  9). 

But  these  were  "the  days  of  His  flesh;"  and  that 
expression  is  not  meant  to  convey  that  He  has  since 
laid  aside  His  bod}^  for  He  says,  "  A  spirit  hath 
not  flesh  .  .  ,.  as  ye  see  Me  have"  (Heb.  v.  7; 
Luke  xxiv.  39).  It  must  therefore  express  the  limita- 
tions, now  removed,  by  which  He  once  condescended  to 
be  trammelled.  What  forbids  us,  then,  to  believe  that 
His  knowledge,  like  His  power,  was  limited  by  a  low- 
liness not  enforced,  but  for  our  sakes  chosen  ;  and  that 
as  He  could  have  asked  for  twelve  legions  of  angels, 
yet  chose  to  be  bound  and  buffeted,  so  He  could  have 
known  that  day  and  hour,  ^-et  submitted  to  ignorance, 
that  He  might  be  made  like  in  all  points  to  His 
brethren  ?  Souls  there  are  for  v>diom  this  wonderful 
saying,  "the  Son  knoweth  not,"  is  even  more  alTecting 
than  the  words,  "  The  Son  of  man  hath  not  where  to 
lay  LI  is  head." 

But  now  the  climax  must  be  observed  which  made 
His  ignorance  more  astonishing  than  that  of  the  angels 
in  heaven.  The  recent  discourse  must  be  remembered, 
wdiich  had  asked  His  enemies  to  explain  the  fact  that 
David  called  Him  Lord,  and  spoke  of  God  as  occupying 
no  lonely  throne.  And  we  must  observe  His  emphatic 
expression,  that  His  return  shall  be  that  of  the  Lord 
of  the  House  (ver.  35),  so  unlike  the  temper  which  He 
impressed  on  ever}''  servant,  and  clearly  teacliing  the 
Epistle    to   the   Hebrews    to   speak  of   His  fidelity  as 


Markxiii.  8-i6.]     THE   IMPENDING  JUDGMENT.  355 

that  of  a  Son  over  His  house,  and  to  contrast  it  sharply 
with  that  of  the  most  honourable  servant  (hi.  6). 

It  is  plain,  however,  that  Jesus  did  not  fix,  and  re- 
nounced the  power  to  fix,  a  speedy  date  for  His  second 
coming.  He  checked  the  impatience  of  the  early 
Church  by  insisting  that  none  knew  the  time. 

But  He  drew  the  closest  analogy  between  that  event 
and  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  required  a  like 
spirit  in  those  who  looked  for  each. 

Persecution  should  go  before  them.  Signs  would 
indicate  their  approach  as  surely  as  the  budding  of  the 
fig  tree  told  of  summer.  And  in  each  case  the  disciples 
of  Jesus  must  be  ready.  When  the  siege  came,  they 
should  not  turn  back  from  the  field  into  the  city,  nor 
escape  from  the  housetop  by  the  inner  staircase. 
When  the  Son  of  man  comes,  their  loins  should  be 
girt,  and  their  lights  already  burning.  But  if  the  end 
has  been  so  long  delayed,  and  if  there  were  signs  by 
which  its  approach  m.ight  be  known,  how  could  it  be 
the  practical  duty  of  all  men,  in  all  the  ages,  to  expect 
it  ?  What  is  the  meaning  of  bidding  us  to  learn  from 
the  fig  tree  her  parable,  which  is  the  approach  of 
summer  when  her  branch  becomes  tender,  and  yet 
asserting  that  we  know  not  when  the  time  is,  that  it 
shall  come  upon  us  as  a  snare,  that  the  Master  will 
surely  surprise  us,  but  need  not  find  us  unprepared, 
because  all  the  Church  ought  to  be  always  ready  ? 

What  does  it  mean,  especially  when  we  observe, 
beneath  the  surface,  that  our  Lord  was  conscious  of 
addressing  more  than  that  generation,  since  He  declared 
to  the  first  hearers,  "What  I  say  unto  you  I  say  unto 
all.  Watch  ?  "  It  is  a  strange  paradox.  But  yet  the 
history  of  the  Church  supplies  abundant  proof  that  in 
no  age  has  the  expectation  of  the  Second  Advent  dis- 


356  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK.  ' 

appeared,  and  the  faithful  have  always  been  mocked  by 
the  illusion,  or  else  keen  to  discern  the  fact,  that  He  is 
near,  even  at  the  doors.  It  is  not  enough  to  reflect 
that,  for  each  soul,  dissolution  has  been  the  preliminary 
advent  of  Him  who  has  promised  to  come  again  and 
receive  us  unto  Himself,  and  the  Angel  of  Death  is 
indeed  the  Angel  of  the  Covenant.  It  must  be  asserted 
that  for  the  universal  Church,  the  feet  of  the  Lord  have 
been  always  upon  the  threshold,  and  the  time  has  been 
prolonged  only  because  the  Judge  staudetli  at  the  door. 
The  "  birth  pangs  "  of  which  Jesus  spoke  have  never 
been  entirely  stilled.  And  the  march  of  time  has  not 
been  towards  a  far-off  eternity,  but  along  the  margin 
of  that  mysterious  ocean,  by  which  it  must  be  engulfed 
at  last,  and  into  which,  fragment  by  fragment,  the  beach 
it  treads  is  crumbling. 

Now  this  necessity,  almost  avowed,  for  giving  signs 
which  should  only  make  the  Church  aware  of  her  Lord's 
continual  nearness,  without  ever  enabling  her  to  assign 
the  date  of  His  actual  arrival,  is  the  probable  explana- 
tion of  what  has  been  already  remarked,  the  manner  in 
which  the  judgment  of  Jerusalem  is  made  to  symbolize 
the  final  judgment.  But  this  symbolism  makes  the 
warning  spoken  to  that  age  for  ever  fruitful.  As  they 
were  not  to  linger  in  the  guilty  city,  so  we  are  to  let 
no  earthly  interests  arrest  our  flight, — not  to  turn  back, 
but  promptly  and  resolutely  to  flee  unto  the  everlasting 
hills.  As  they  should  pray  that  their  flight  through  the 
mountains  should  not  be  in  the  winter,  so  should  we 
beware  of  needing  to  seek  salvation  in  the  winter  of 
the  soul,  when  the  storms  of  passion  and  appetite  are 
wildest,  when  evil  habits  have  made  the  road  slippery 
under  foot,  and  sophistry  and  selfwill  have  hidden  the 
gulfs  in  a  treacherous  wreath  of  snow. 


Mark  xiii.  8-16.]     THE   IMPENDING  JUDGMENT.  357 


Heedfuliiess,  a  sense  of  surrounding  peril  and  of 
the  danger  of  the  times,  is  meant  to  inspire  us  while 
we  read.  The  discourse  opens  with  a  caution  against 
heresy  :  "  Take  heed  that  no  man  deceive  you."  It  goes 
on  to  caution  them  against  the  weakness  of  their  own 
flesh  "  Take  heed  to  yourselves,  for  they  shah  deliver 
you  up."  It  bids  them  watch,  because  they  know  not 
when  the  time  is.  And  the  way  to  watchfulness  is 
prayerfulness  ;  so  that  presently,  in  the  Garden,  when 
they  could  not  watch  with  Him  one  hour,  they  were 
bidden  to  watch  and  pray,  that  they  enter  not  into 
temptation. 

So  is  the  expectant  Church  to  watch  and  pray.     Nor 
must    her    mood    be    one  of   passive  idle   expectation, 
dreamful    desire    of  the   promised    change,  neglect    of 
duties   in   the  interval.     The    progress  of   all  art  and 
science,  and  even  the  culture  of  the  ground,  is  said  to 
have  been  arrested  by  the  universal  persuasion  that  the 
year  One  Thousand  should  see  the  return  of  Christ. 
The    luxury   of   millennarian    expectation    seems  even 
now  to  relieve  some  consciences  from  the  active  duties 
of  religion.     But  Jesus  taught  His  followers  that    on 
leaving  His   house,   to  sojourn    in   a  far  country.    He 
regarded   them  as   His   servants  still,  and  gave   them 
every  one  his  work.     And  it  is  the  companion  of  that 
disciple  to  whom  Jesus  gave  the  keys,  and  to  whom 
especially  He    said,   "What,    couldest   thou  not  watch 
with  Me  one  hour  ?  "  St.  Mark  it  is  who  specifies  the 
command  to  the  porter  that  he  should  watch.     To  watch 
is  not  to  gaze  from  the  roof  across  the  distant  roads. 
It  is   to   have   girded  loins  and   a  kindled  lamp ;  it  is 
not  measured  by  excited  expectation,  but  by  readiness. 
Does  it  seem  to  us  that  the  world  is  no  longer  hostile, 
because  persecution  and  torture  are  at  an  end  ?     That 


358  GOSPEL   OF  ST.    MARK. 

the  need  is  over  for  a  clear  distinction  between  her 
and  us  ?  Tliis  very  behef  may  prove  that  we  are 
falling  asleep.  Never  was  there  an  age  to  which  Jesus 
did  not  say  Watch.  Never  one  in  which  His  return 
would  be  other  than  a  snare  to  all  whose  life  is  on  the 
level  of  the  world. 

Now  looking  back  over  the  whole  discourse,  we 
come  to  ask  ourselves,  What  is  the  spirit  v/hich  it 
sought  to  breathe  into  His  Church  ?  Clearly  it  is  that 
of  loyal  expectation  of  the  Absent  One.  There  is  in 
it  no  hint,  that  because  we  cannot  fail  to  be  deceived 
without  Him,  therefore  His  infallibility  and  His  Vicar 
shall  for  ever  be  left  on  earth.  His  place  is  empty 
until  He  returns.  Whoever  says,  Lo,  here  is  Christ, 
is  a  deceiver,  and  it  proves  nothing  that  he  shall  de- 
ceive many.  When  Christ  is  manifested  again,  it 
shall  be  as  the  blaze  of  lightning  across  the  sky. 
There  is  perhaps  no  text  in  this  discourse  which  directly 
assails  the  Papacy  ;  but  the  atmosphere  which  pervades 
it  is  deadly  alike  to  her  claims,  and  to  the  instincts  and 
desires  on  wiiich  those  claims  rely. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE    CRUSE    OF    OINTMElSfT. 

"Now  after  two  days  was  the  feast  of  the  passover  and  the  un- 
leavened bread  :  and  the  chief  priests  and  the  scribes  sought  how  they 
might  take  Him  witli  snbtiUy,  and  kill  Him  :  for  they  said,  Not 
during  the  feast,  lest  haply  there  shall  be  a  tumult  of  the  people.  And 
while  He  was  in  Bethany  in  the  house  of  Simon  the  leper,  as  He  sat  at 
meaf,  there  came  a  woman  having  an  alabaster  cruse  of  ointment  of 
spikenard  very  costly;  fl/;(/she  brake  the  cruse,  and  poured  it  over  His 
head.  But  there  were  some  that  had  indignation  among  themselves, 
saying.  To  what  purpose  hath  this  waste  of  the  ointment  been  made  ? 
For  this  ointment  might  have  been  sold  for  above  three  hundred  pence, 
and  given  to  l!ie  poor.  And  they  murmured  against  her.  But  Jesus 
said,  Let  her  alone;  why  trouble  ye  her?  she  hath  wrought  a  good 
worlc  on  Me.  For  ye  have  the  poor  always  with  you,  and  whensoever 
5'e  will  ye  can  do  them  good  :  but  Me  ye  have  not  always.  She  hath 
done  wliat  she  could  :  she  hath  anointed  My  body  aforehand  for  the 
burying.  And  verily  I  say  unto  you,  Wheresoever  the  gospel  shall  be 
preached  throughout  the  whole  world,  that  also  which  this  woman  hath 
done  shall  be  spoken  of  for  a  memorial  of  her." — Mark  xiv.  1-9 
(R.V.). 

PERFECTION  implies  not  only  the  absence  of 
blemishes,  but  the  presence,  in  equal  proportions, 
of  every  virtue  and  every  grace.  And  so  the  perfect 
life  is  full  of  the  most  striking,  and  yet  the  easiest 
transitions.  We  have  just  read  predictions  of  trial 
more  startling  and  intense  than  any  in  the  ancient 
Scripture.  If  we  knew  of  Jesus  onl_y  by  the  various 
reports  of  that  discourse,  we  should  think  of  a  recluse 
like  Elijah  or  the  Baptist,  and  imagine  that  His  dis- 


36o  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

ciples,  wi'th  girded  loins,  should  be  more  ascetic 
than  St.  Anthony.  We  are  next  shown  Jesus  at  a 
supper  gracefully  accepting  the  graceful  homage  of  a 
woman. 

From  St.  John  we  learn  that  this  feast  was  given  six 
days  before  the  passover.  The  other  accounts  post- 
poned the  mention  of  it,  plainly  because  of  an  incident 
which  occurred  then,  but  is  vitally  connected  with  a 
decision  arrived  at  somewhat  later  by  the  priests.  Tw^o 
days  before  the  passover,  the  council  finally  determined 
that  Jesus  must  be  destroyed.  They  recognised  all  the 
dangers  of  that  course.  It  must  be  done  with  subtlety; 
the  people  must  not  be  aroused  ;  and  therefore  they 
said.  Not  on  the  feast-day.  It  is  remarkable,  however, 
that  at  the  very  time  when  they  so  determined,  Jesus 
clearly  and  calmly  made  to  His  disciples  exactly  the 
opposite  announcement.  ''After  two  days  the  passover 
Cometh,  and  the  Son  of  man  is  delivered  up  to  be 
crucified  "  (Matt.  xxvi.  2).  Thus  we  find  at  every  turn 
of  the  narrative  that  their  plans  are  over-ruled,  and 
they  are  unconscious  agents  of  a  mysterious  design, 
which  their  Victim  comprehends  and  accepts.  On  one 
side,  perplexity  snatches  at  all  base  expedients ;  the 
traitor  is  welcomed,  false  witnesses  are  sought  after, 
and  the  guards  of  the  sepulchre  bribed.  On  the  other 
side  is  clear  foresight,  the  deliberate  unmasking  of 
Judas,  and  at  the  trial  a  circumspect  composure,  a  lofty 
silence,  and  speech  more  majestic  still. 

Meanwhile  there  is  a  heart  no  longer  light  (for  He 
foresees  His  burial),  yet  not  so  burdened  that  He  should 
decline  the  entertainment  offered  Him  at  Bethany. 

This  was  in  the  house  of  Simon  the  leper,  but  St. 
John  tells  us  that  PJartha  served,  Lazarus  sat  at  meat, 
and  the  woman  who  anointed  Jesus  was  Mary.     We 


Mark  xiv.  1-9.]     THE    CRUSE   OF  OINTMEXT.  361 

naturally  infer  some  relationship  between  Simon  and 
this  favoured  family  ;  but  the  nature  of  the  tie  we  know 
not,  and  no  purpose  can  be  served  b}'  guessing.  Better 
far  to  let  the  mind  rest  upon  the  sweet  picture  of  Jesus, 
at  home  among  those  Vvdio  loved  Him  ;  upon  the  eager 
service  of  Martha  ;  upon  the  man  who  had  known  death, 
somewhat  silent,  one  fancies,  a  remarkable  sight  for  Jesus, 
as  He  sat  at  meat,  and  perhaps  suggestive  of  the  thought 
which  found  utterance  a  few  days  afterwards,  that  a 
banquet  was  yet  to  come,  when  He  also,  risen  from  the 
grave,  should  drink  new  wine  among  His  friends  in  the 
kingdom  of  God.  And  there  the  adoring  face  of  her 
who  had  chosen  the  better  part  was  turned  to  her  Lord 
with  a  love  wdiich  comprehended  His  sorrow  and  His 
danger,  while  even  the  Twelve  were  blind — an  insight 
which  knew  the  awful  presence  of  One  upon  his  way 
to  the  sepulchre,  as  v;ell  as  one  who  had  returned 
thence.  Therefore  she  produced  a  cruse  of  very 
precious  ointment,  which  had  been  "kept"  for  Him, 
perhaps  since  her  brother  was  embalmed.  And  as  such 
alabaster  flasks  were  commonly  sealed  in  making,  and 
only  to  be  opened  by  breaking  off  the  neck,  she 
crushed  the  cruse  between  her  hands  and  poured  it  oa 
His  head.  On  His  feet  also,  according  to  St.  John, 
who  is  chiefly  thinking  of  the  embalming  of  the  body, 
as  the  others  of  the  anointing  of  the  head.  The  dis- 
covery of  contradiction  here  is  worthy  of  the  abject 
"  criticism "  which  detects  in  this  account  a  variation 
upon  the  stor}^  of  her  who  was  a  sinner.  As  if  two 
women  who  loved  much  might  not  both  express  their 
loyalty,  which  could  not  speak,  by  so  fair  and  feminine  a 
device;  or  as  if  it  were  inconceivable  that  the  blameless 
Mary  should  consciously  imitate  the  gentle  penitent. 
But    even   as   this    unworthy  controversy   breaks  in 


302  GOSPEL    OF  ST.  MARK. 

upon  the  tender  story,  so  did  indignation  and  murmur- 
ing spoil  tliat  peaceful  scene.  "  Why  was  not  this 
ointment  sold  for  much,  and  given  to  the  poor  ?  "  It 
was  not  common  that  others  should  be  more  thoughtful 
of  the  poor  than  Jesus. 

He  fed  the  multitudes  they  would  have  sent  away  ; 
He  gave  sight  to  Bartimceus  whom  they  rebuked.  But 
it  is  still  true,  that  whenever  generous  impulses  express 
themselves  with  lavish  hands,  some  heartless  calculator 
reckons  up  the  value  of  what  is  spent,  and  especially  its 
value  to  "  the  poor;"  the  poor,  who  would  be  worse  off 
if  the  instincts  of  love  were  arrested  and  the  human 
heart  frozen.  Almshouses  are  not  usually  built  by  those 
who  declaim  against  church  architecture  ;  nor  is  utilita- 
rianism famous  for  its  charities.  And  so  we  are  not 
surprised  when  St.  John  tells  us  how  the  quarrel  was 
fomented.  .  Iscariot,  the  dishonest  pursebearer,  was  ex- 
asperated at  the  loss  of  a  chance  of  theft,  perhaps  of 
absconding  without  being  so  great  a  loser  at  the  end  of 
his  three  unrequited  years.  True  that  the  chance  was 
gone,  and  speech  would  only  betray  his  estrangement 
from  Jesus,  upon  Whom  so  much  good  property  was 
wasted.  But  evil  tempers  must  express  themselves  at 
times,  and  Judas  had  craft  enough  to  involve  the  rest 
in  his  misconduct.  It  is  the  only  indication  in  the 
Gospels  of  intrigue  among  the  Twelve  which  even 
indirectly  struck  at  their  Master's  honour. 

Thus,  while  the  fragrance  of  the  ointment  filled  the 
house,  their  parsimony  grudged  the  homage  which 
soothed  His  heart,  and  condemned  the  spontaneous 
im.pulse  of  Mary's  love. 

It  was  for  her  that  Jesus  interfered,  and  His  words 
went  home. 

The    poor    were    always    with   them  :    opportunities 


Markxiv   I -9.]     THE    CRUSE    OF  OINTMENT.  363 

would  never  fail  those  who  were  so  zealous  ;  and  when- 
soever they  would  they  could  do  them  good, — when- 
soever Judas,  for  example,  would.  As  for  her,  she  had 
w'rought  a  good  work  (a  high-minded  and  lofty  work  is 
implied  rather  than  a  useful  one)  upon  Him,  Whom  they 
should  not  always  have.  Soon  His  body  would  be  in 
the  hands  of  sinners,  desecrated,  outraged.  And  she 
only  had  comprehended,  however  dimly,  the  silent 
sorrow  of  her  Master  ;  she  only  had  laid  to  heart  His 
warnings  ;  and,  unable  to  save  Him,  or  even  to  watch 
with  Him  one  hour,  she  (and  through  all  that  week 
none  other)  had  done  what  she  could.  She  had 
anointed  His  body  beforehand  for  the  burial,  and  in- 
deed with  clear  intention  "  to  prepare  Him  for  burial" 
(Matt.  xxvi.  12). 

It  was  for  this  that  His  followers  had  chidden  her. 
Alas,  how  often  do  our  shrevrd  calculations  and  harsh 
judgments  miss  the  very  essence  of  some  problem  which 
only  the  heart  can  solve,  the  silent  intention  of  some 
deed  which  is  too  fine,  too  sensitive,  to  explain  itself 
except  only  to  that  sympath}'  which  understands  us  all. 
Men  thought  of  Jesus  as  lacking  nothing,  and  would 
fain  divert  His  honour  to  the  poor  ;  but  this  woman 
comprehended "  the  lonely  heart,  and  saw  the  last 
inexorable  need  before  Him.  Love  read  the  secret  in 
the  eyes  of  love,  and  this  which  Mary  did  shall  be  told 
while  the  w'orld  stands,  as  being  among  the  few  human 
actions  which  refreshed  the  lonely  One,  the  purest,  the 
most  graceful,  and  perhaps  the  last= 


364  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


THE    TRAITOR. 

"  And  Judas  Iscariot,  he  that  was  one  of  the  twelve,  went  away  unto 
the  chief  priests,  that  he  might  deliver  Him  unto  them.  And  they, 
when  they  heard  it,  were  glad,  and  promised  to  give  him  money.  And 
he  sought  how  he  might  conveniently  deliver  Him  ztnto  them.  And  on 
the  fast  day  of  unleavened  bread,  when  they  sacrificed  the  passover.  His 
disciples  say  unto  Him,  Where  wilt  Thou  that  we  go  and  make  ready 
that  Thou  mayest  eat  the  passover?  And  He  sendeth  two  of  His 
disciples,  and  saith  unto  them.  Go  into  the  city,  and  there  shall  meet 
you  a  man  bearing  a  pitcher  of  water  :  follow  him;  and  wheiesoever 
he  shall  enter  in,  say  to  the  goodman  of  the  house,  the  Master  saith, 
Where  is  My  gucbt-chamber,  where  I  shall  eat  the  passover  with  My 
disciples  ?  And  he  will  himself  shew  you  a  large  upper  room  furnished 
and  ready  :  and  there  make  ready  for  us.  And  the  disciples  went 
forth,  and  came  into  the  city,  and  found  as  He  had  said  unto  them  : 
and  they  made  ready  the  passover." — Mark  xiv.  10-16  (R.V.). 

It  was  when  Jesus  rebuked  the  Twelve  for  censuring 
Mary,  that  the  patience  of  Judas,  chafing  in  a  service 
which  had  grown  hateful,  finally  gave  way.  He 
offered  a  treacherous  and  odious  help  to  the  chiefs  of 
his  religion,  and  these  pious  men,  too  scrupulous  to 
cast  blood-money  into  the  treasury  or  to  defile  them- 
selves by  entering  a  pagan  judgment  hall,  shuddered 
not  at  the  contact  of  such  infamy,  warned  him  not  that 
perfidy  will  pollute  the  holiest  cause,  cared  as  little 
then  for  his  ruin  as  when  they  asked  what  to  them 
was  his  remorseful  agony  ;  but  were  glad,  and  prom- 
ised to  give  him  money.  By  so  doing,  they  became 
accomplices  in  the  only  crime  by  which  it  is  quite 
certain  that  a  soul  was  lost.  The  supreme  "  offence  " 
was  planned  and  perpetrated  by  no  desperate  criminal. 
It  was  the  work  of  an  apostle,  and  his  accomplices 
were  the  heads  of  a  divinely  given  religion.  What  an 
awful  example  of  the   deadening  power,    palsying  the 


Mai-kxiv.  IO-I6.]  THE    TRAITOR.  365 

conscience,  petrifying  the  heart,  of  reHgious  observances 
devoid  of  real  trust  and  love. 

The  narrative,  as  we  saw,  somewhat  displaced  the 
story  of  Simon's  feast,  to  connect  this  incident  more 
closely  with  the  betrayal.  And  it  now  proceeds  at 
once  to  the  passover,  and  the  final  crisis.  In  so  doing, 
it  pauses  at  a  curious  example  of  circumspection, 
intimately  linked  also  with  the  treason  of  Judas.  The 
disciples,  unconscious  of  treachery,  asked  where  they 
should  prepare  the  paschal  supper.  And  Jesus  gave 
them  a  sign  by  which  to  recognise  one  who  had  a  large 
upper  room  prepared  for  that  purpose,  to  which  he 
would  make  them  welcome.  It  is  not  quite  impossible 
that  the  pitcher  of  water  was  a  signal  preconcerted 
with  some  disciple  in  Jerusalem,  although  secret  under- 
standings are  not  found  elsewhere  in  the  life  of  Jesus. 
What  concerns  us  to  observe  is  that  the  owner  of  the 
house  which  the  bearer  entered  was  a  believer.  To 
him  Jesus  is  "the  Master,"  and  can  say  "  Where  is  My 
guest-chamber  ?  " 

So  obscure  a  disciple  was  he,  that  Peter  and  John 
required  a  sign  to  guide  them  to  his  house.  Yet  his 
upper  room  would  now  receive  such  a  consecration  as 
the  Temple  never  knew.  With  strange  feelings  would 
he  henceforth  enter  the  scene  of  the  last  supper  of  his 
Lord.  But  now,  what  if  he  had  only  admitted  Jesus 
with  hesitation  and  after  long  delay  ?  We  should 
wonder  ;  yet  there  are  lowlier  doors  at  which  the  same 
Jesus  stands  and  knocks,  and  would  fain  come  in  and 
sup.  And  cold  is  His  v/elcome  to  many  a  chamber 
which  is  neither  furnished  nor  made  ready. 

The  mysterious  and  reticent  indication  of  the  place 

■  is    easily    understood.     Jesus    would    not    enable    His 

enemies  to  lay  hands  upon  Him  before  the  time.      His 


366  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

nights  had  hitherto  been  spent  at  Bethany  ;  now  first 
it  was  possible  to  arrest  Him  in  the  darkness,  and 
hurry  on  the  trial  before  the  Galileans  at  the  feast, 
strangers  and  comparatively  isolated,  could  learn  the 
danger  of  their  "  prophet  of  Galilee."  It  was  onl}^  too 
certain  that  when  the  blow  was  struck,  the  light  and 
fickle  adhesion  of  the  populace  would  transfer  itself  to 
the  successful  party.  Meanwhile,  the  prudence  of 
Jesus  gave  Him  time  for  the  Last  Supper,  and  the 
wonderful  discourse  recorded  by  St  John,  and  the 
conflict  and  victory  in  the  Garden,  When  the  priests 
learned,  at  a  late  hour,  that  Jesus  might  yet  be  arrested 
before  morning,,  but  that  Judas  could  never  watch  Him 
any  more,  the  necessity  for  prompt  action  came  with 
such  surprise  upon  them,  that  the  arrest  was  accom- 
plished while  they  still  had  to  seek  false  witnesses,  and 
to  consult  how  a  sentence  might  best  be  extorted  from 
the  Governor.  It  is  right  to  observe  at  every  point, 
the  mastery  of  Jesus,  the  perplexity  and  confusion  of 
His  foes. 

And  it  is  also  right  that  we  should  learn  to  include, 
among  the  woes  endured  for  us  by  the  Man  of  Sorrows, 
this  haunting  consciousness  that  a  base  vigilance  was 
to  be  watched  against,  that  Pie  breathed  the  air  of 
treachery  and  vileness. 

Here  then,,  in  view  of  the  precautions  thus  forced 
upon  oiu"  Lord,  we  pause  to  reflect  upon  the  awful  fall 
of  Judas,  the  degradation  of  an  apostle  into  a  hireling, 
a  traitor,  and  a  spy.  Men  have  failed  to  believe  that 
one  v.'hcm  Jesus  called  to  His  side  should  sink  so  low. 

They  have  not  observed  how  inevitably  great  good- 
ness rejected  brings  out  special  turpitude,  and  dark 
shadows  go  with  powerful  lights  ;  how,  in  this  supreme 
tragedy,  all  the  motives,  passions,  moral  and  immoral 


Mark  xiv.  1016.] 


THE    TRAITOR.  3^7 


impulses  are  on  the  tragic  scale  ;  what  gigantic  forms  of 
baseness,  hypocrisy,  cruelty,  and  injustice  stalk  across 
the    awful  platform,    and  how  the  forces  of  hell  strip 
themselves,  and  string  their  muscles  for  a  last  desperate 
wrestle  against  the  powers  of  heaven,  so  tliat  here  is 
the  very  place  to  expect  the  extreme  apostasy.     And 
so  they  have  conjectured  that  Iscariot  was  only  halt  a 
traitor.     Some  project  misled  him  of  forcing  his  Master 
to  turn  to  bav.     Then  the  powers  which  wasted  them- 
selves in  scattering  unthanked  and  unprofitable  bless- 
ings would  exert  themselves  to  crush  the  foe.     Then  he 
could  claim   for   himself  the  credit  deserved  by  much 
astuteness,  the  consideration  due  to  the  only  man  of 
political  resource  among  the  Twelve.     But  this  well- 
intending  Tudas  is  equally  unknown  to  the  narratives 
and  the  pi-ophecies,  and  this  theory  does  not  harmonise 
with  any  of  the  facts.     Profound  reprobation  and  even 
contempt  are  audible  in  all  the  narratives  ;  they  are  quite 
as  audible  in  the  reiterated  phrase,  "which  was  one  of 
the  Twelve,"  and  in  almost  every  mention  of  his  name, 
as  in  the  round  assertion  of  St.  John,  that  he  was  a 
'    thief  and  stole  from  the  common  purse.     Only  the  lowest 
motive  is  discernible  in  the  fact  that  his  project  ripened 
just   when  the  waste  of  the  ointment  spoiled  his  last 
hope  from  apostleship,-the  hope  of  unjust  gain,  and  in 
his   bargaining  for  the  miserable  price  which  he  still 
carried  with  him  when  the  veil  dropped  from   his  inner 
eyes     when    he    awoke    to    the    sorrow  of   the    world 
which  worketh  death,   to  the  remorse  which  was  not 

penitence.  . 

One  who  desired  that  Jesus  should  be  driven  to 
counter-measures  and  yet  free  to  take  them,  would 
probably  have  favoured  His  escape  when  once  the 
attempt  to  arrest    Him   infiicted    the   necessary    spur, 


368  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

and  certainly  he  would  have  anxiously  avoided  any 
appearance  of  insult.  But  it  will  be  seen  that  Judas 
carefully  closed  every  door  against  his  Lord's  escape, 
and  seized  Him  with  something  very  like  a  jibe  on 
his  recreant  lips. 

No,  his  infamy  cannot  be  palliated,  but  it  can  be 
understood.  For  it  is  a  solemn  and  awful  truth,  that  in 
ever}^  defeat  of  grace  the  reaction  is  equal  to  the  action  ; 
they  who  have  been  exalted  unto  heaven  are  brought 
down  far  below  the  level  of  the  world  ;  and  the  principle 
is  universal  that  Israel  cannot,  by  willing  it,  be  as  the 
nations  that  are  round  about,  to  serve  other  gods.  God 
Himself  gives  him  statutes  that  are  not  good.  He  makes 
fat  the  heart  and  blinds  the  eyes  of  the  apostate.  There- 
fore it  comes  that  religion  without  devotion  is  the 
mockery  of  honest  worldlings  ;  that  hypocrisy  goes  so 
constantly  with  the  meanest  and  most  sordid  lust  of 
gain,  and  selfish  cruelty  ;  that  publicans  and  harlots 
enter  heaven  before  scribes  and  pharisees  ;  that  salt 
which  has  lost  its  savour  is  fit  neither  for  the  land  nor 
for  the  dung-hill.  Oh,  then,  to  what  place  of  shame 
shall  a  recreant  apostle  be  thrust  down  ? 

Moreover  it  must  be  observed  that  the  guilt  of  Judas, 
however  awful,  is  but  a  shade  more  dark  than  that  of 
his  sanctimonious  employers,  who  sought  false  witnesses 
against  Christ,  extorted  by  menace  and  intrigue  a 
sentence  Vv'hich  Pilate  openly  pronounced  to  be  unjust, 
mocked  His  despairing  agony,  and  on  the  resurrection 
morning  bribed  a  pagan  soldiery  to  lie  for  the  Hebrew 
faith.  It  is  plain  enough  that  Jesus  could  not  and  did 
not  choose  the  apostles  through  foreknowledge  of  what 
they  would  hereafter  prove,  but  by  His  perception  of 
what  they  then  were,  and  what  they  were  capable  of 
becoming,  if  faithful  to  the  light  they  should  receive. 


Maikxiv.  10-16.]  THE    TRAITOR.  369 

Not  one,  when  chcsen  first,  was  ready  to  welcome 
the  purely  spiritual  kingdom,  the  despised  Messiah, 
the  life  of  poverty  and  scorn.  I  hey  had  to  learn,  and 
it  was  open  to  them  to  refuse  the  discipline.  Once  at 
least  they  were  asked,  Will  ye  also  go  away  ?  How 
severe  was  the  trial  may  be  seen  by  the  rebuke  of 
Peter,  and  the  petition  of  "  Zebedee's  children  "  and 
their  mother.  They  conquered  the  same  reluctance  of 
the  flesh  which  overcame  the  better  part  in  Judas. 
But  he  clung  desperately  to  secular  hope,  until  the  last 
vestige  of  such  hope  w^as  over.  Listening  to  the 
warnings  of  Christ  against  the  cares  of  this  world,  the 
lust  of  other  things,  love  of  high  places  and  contempt  of 
lowly  service,  and  watching  bright  offers  rejected  and 
influential  classes  estranged,  it  was  inevitable  that  a 
sense  of  personal  wrong,  and  a  vindictive  resentment, 
should  spring  up  in  his  gloomy  heart.  The  thorns 
choked  the  good  seed.  Then  came  a  deeper  fall.  As 
he  rejected  the  pure  light  of  self-sacrifice,  and  the  false 
light  of  his  romantic  daydreams  faded,  no  curb  was 
left  on  the  baser  instincts  which  are  latent  in  the  human 
heart.  Self-respect  being  already  lost,  and  conscience 
beaten  down,  he  was  allured  by  low  compensations, 
and  the  apostle  became  a  thief.  What  better  than  gain, 
however  sordid,  was  left  to  a  life  so  plainly  frustrated 
and  spoiled  ?  That  is  the  temptation  of  disillusion,  as 
fatal  to  middle  life  as  the  passions  are  to  early  man- 
hood. And  this  fall  reacted  again  upon  his  attitude 
towards  Jesus.  Like  all  who  vvill  not  walk  in  the  light, 
he  hated  the  light ;  like  all  hirelings  of  two  masters,  he 
hated  the  one  he  left.  Men  ask  how  judas  could  have 
consented  to  accept  for  Jesus  the  oloodmoney  of  a 
slave.  The  truth  is  that  his  treason  itself  yielded  him 
a  dreadful  satisfaction,  and   th.e  insuUii'g  k!ss,  and  the 

24 


570  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


sneering  "  Rabbi,"  expressed  the  malice  of  his  heart. 
Well  for  him  if  he  had  never  been  born.  For  when  his 
conscience  awoke  with  a  start  and  told  him  what  thing 
he  had  become,  only  self-loathing  remained  to  him. 
Peter  denying  Jesus  was  nevertheless  at  heart  His  own  ; 
a  look  sufficed  to  melt  him.  For  Judas,  Christ  was 
become  infinitely  remote  and  strange,  an  abstraction, 
"  the  innocent  blood,"  no  more  than  that.  And  so, 
when  Jesus  was  passing  into  the  holiest  through  the 
rent  veil  which  was  His  flesh,  this  first  Antichrist 
had  already  torn  wdth  iiis  own  hands  the  tissue  of 
the  curtain  which  hides  eternity. 

Now  let  us  observe  that  all  this  ruin  was  the  result 
of  forces  continually  at  work  upon  human  hearts. 
Aspiration,  vocation,  failure,  degradation — it  is  the 
summary  of  a  thousand  lives.  Only  it  is  here  exhibited 
on  a  vast  and  dreadful  scale  (magnified  by  the  light 
which  was  behind,  as  images  thrown  by  a  lantern  upon 
a  screen)  for  the  instruction  and  warning  of  the 
world. 

THE  SOP. 

"And  when  it  was  evening  He  cometh  with  the  twelve.  And  as  they 
sat  and  were  eating,  Jesus  said,  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  One  of  you  shall 
bt-tray  iNIe,  even  he  that  eateth  with  Me.  They  began  to  be  sorrowful, 
and  to  say  unto  Him  one  by  one,  Is  it  I  ?  And  He  said  unto  them,  It 
is  one  of  the  twelve,  he  that  dippeth  with  i\Ie  in  the  dish.  For  the  Son 
of  man  goeth,  even  as  it  is  written  of  Him  :  but  woe  unto  that  man 
through  whom  the  Son  of  man  is  betrayed  !  good  were  it  for  that  man 
if  he  had  not  been  born." — Mark  xiv.  17-21  (R.V.). 

In  the  deadly  wine  which  our  Lord  was  made  to  drink, 
every  ingredient  of  mortal  bitterness  v^as  mingled. 
And  it  shows  how  far  is  even  His  Church  from  com- 
prehending Him,  that  we  think  so  much  more  of  tlie 


Mark  xiv.  17-21.]  THE   SOP.  371 

physical  than  the  mental  and  spiritual  horrors   which 
gather  around  the  closing  scene. 

But  the  tone  of  all  the  narratives,  and  perhaps 
especially  of  St.  Mark's,  is  that  of  the  exquisite  Collect 
which  reminds  us  that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  con- 
tented to  be  betrayed,  and  given  up  into  the  hands  of 
wicked  men,  as  well  as  to  suffer  death  on  the  cross. 
Treason  and  outrage,  the  traitor's  kiss  and  the  weakness 
of  those  who  loved  Him,  the  hypocrisy  of  the  priest  and 
the  ingratitude  of  the  mob,  perjury  and  a  mock  trial, 
the  injustice  of  His  judges,  the  brutal  outrages  of  the 
soldiers,  the  worse  and  more  malignant  mockery  of 
scribe  and  Pharisee,  and  last  and  direst,  the  averting 
of  the  face  of  God,  these  were  more  dreadful  to  Jesus 
than  the  scourging  and  the  nails. 

And  so  there  is  great  stress  laid  upon  His  anticipa- 
tion of  the  misconduct  of  His  own. 

As  the  dreadful  evening  closes  in,  having  come  to 
the  guest  chamber  "  with  the  Twelve  " — eleven  whose 
hearts  should  fail  them  and  one  whose  heart  was  dead, 
it  was  "  as  they  sat  and  were  eating  "  that  the  oppres- 
sion of  the  traitor's  hypocrisy  became  intolerable,  and 
the  outraged  One  spoke  out.  "  Verily  I  say  unto  you, 
One  of  you  shall  betray  Me,  even  he  that  eateth  with  Me." 
The  words  are  interpreted  as  well  as  predicted  in  the 
plaintive  Psalm  which  says,  "  Mine  own  familiar  friend 
in  whom  I  trusted,  wdiich  did  also  eat  of  My  bread,  hath 
lifted  up  his  heel  against  Me."  And  perhaps  they  are 
less  a  disclosure  than  a  cry. 

Every  attempt  to  mitigate  the  treason  of  Judas, 
every  suggestion  that  he  may  only  have  striven  too 
wilfully  to  serve  our  Lord  by  forcing  Him  to  take 
decided  measures,  must  fail  to  account  for  the  sense  of 
utter  wrong  which  breathes  in  the  simple  and  piercing 


372  GOSPEL    GF  ST.    MARK. 

complaint  "one  of  you  .  .  .  even  he  that  eateth  with 
Me."  There  is  a  tone  in  all  the  narratives  which  is  at 
variance  with  any  palliation  of  the  crime. 

No  theology  is  worth  much  if  it  fails  to  confess,  at 
the  centre  of  all  the  words  and  deeds  of  Jesus,  a  great 
and  tender  human  heart.  He  might  have  spoken 
of  teaching  and  warnings  lavished  on  the  traitor,  and 
miracles  which  he  had  beheld  in  vain.  Wliat  weighs 
heaviest  on  His  burdened  spirit  is  none  of  these  ;  it  is 
that  one  should  betray  Him  who  had  eaten  His  bread. 

When  Brutus  was  dying  he  is  made  to  say — 

"  My  heart  doth  joy,  that  3'et,  in  all  my  life, 
I  found  no  man,  but  he  was  true  to  me." 

But  no  form  of  innocent  sorrow  was  to  pass  Jesus  by. 

The  vagueness  in  the  words  "  one  of  you  shall  be- 
tray Me/'  was  doubtless  intended  to  suggest  in  all  a 
great  searching  of  heart.  Coming  just  before  the 
institution  of  the  Eucharistic  feast,  this  incident  anti- 
cipates the  command  which  it  perhaps  suggested  :  "  Let 
a  man  examine  himself,  and  so  let  him  eat."  It  is 
good  to  be  distrustful  of  one's  self.  And  if,  as  was 
natural,  the  Eleven  looked  one  upon  another  doubting 
of  whom  He  spake,  they  also  began  to  say  to  Him, 
one  by  one  (first  the  most  timid,  and  then  others  as 
the  circle  narrowed),  Is  it  I  ?  For  the  prince  of  this 
world  had  something  in  each  of  them, — some  frailty 
there  was,  some  reluctance  to  bear  the  yoke,  some 
longing  for  the  forbidden  ways  of  worldliness,  which 
alarmed  each  at  this  solemn  warning,  and  made  him 
ask,  Is  it,  can  it  be  possible,  that  it  is  I  ?  R.eligious 
self-sufficiency  was  not  then  the  apostolic  mood.  Tl-.eir 
questioning  is  also  remarkable  as  a  proof  how  little 
they  suspected  Judas,  how  firml}'  he  bore  himself  even 


Mark  xiv.  17-21.]  THE   SOP.  373 

as  those  all-revealing  words  were  spoken,  how  strong 
and  war}'^  was  the  temperament  which  Christ  would 
fain  have  sanctified.  For  between  the  Master  and  him 
there  could  have  been  no  more  concealment. 

The  apostles  were  right  to  distrust  themselves,  and 
not  to  distrust  another.  They  were  right,  because  they 
were  so  feeble,  so  unlike  their  Lord.  But  for  Him 
there  is  no  misgiving :  His  composure  is  serene  in 
the  hour  of  the  power  of  darkness.  And  His  perfect 
spiritual  sensibility  discerned  the  treachery,  unknown 
to  others,  as  instinctively  as  the  eye  resents  the  pre- 
sence of  a  mote  imperceptible  to  the  hand. 

The  traitor's  iron  nerve  is  somewhat  strained  as  he 
feels  himself  discovered,  and  when  Jesus  is  about  to 
hand  a  sop  to  him,  he  stretches  over,  and  their  hands 
meet  in  the  dish.  That  is  the  appointed  sign  :  "  It  is 
one  of  the  Twelve,  he  that  dippeth  with  Me  in  the 
dish,"  and  as  he  rushes  out  into  the  darkness,  to  seek 
his  accomplices  and  his  revenge,  Jesus  feels  the  awful 
contrast  between  the  betrayer  and  the  Betraj^ed,  For 
Himself,  He  goeth  as  it  is  written  of  Him.  This 
phrase  admirably  expresses  the  co-operation  of  Divine 
purpose  and  free  human  will,  and  by  the  woe  that 
follows  He  refutes  all  who  would  make  of  God's 
fore-knowledge  an  excuse  for  human  sin.  He  then  is 
not  walking  in  the  dark  and  stumbling,  though  men 
shall  think  Him  falling.  But  the  life  of  the  false  one 
is  worse  than  utterly  cast  away  :  of  him  is  spoken  the 
dark  and  ominous  word,  never  indisputably  certain  of 
any  other  soul,  "  Good  were  it  for  him  if  that  man  had 
not  been  born." 

"  That  man  ! "  The  order  and  emphasis  are  very 
strange.  The  Lord,  who  felt  and  said  that  one  of  His 
chosen  was  a  devil,  seems  here  to  lay  stress  upon  the 


374  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

warning  thought,  that  he  who  fell  so  low  was  human, 
and  his  frightful  ruin  was  evolved  from  none  but  human 
capabilities  for  good  and  evil.  In  "  the  Son  of  man  " 
and   "that  man,"  the  same  humanity  was  to  be  found. 

For  Himself,  He  is  the  same  to-day  as  yesterday. 
All  that  we  eat  is  His.  And  in  the  most  especial  and 
far-reaching  sense,  it  is  His  bread  which  is  broken  for 
us  at  His  table.  Has  He  never  seen  traitor  except  one 
who  violated  so  close  a  bond  ?  Alas,  the  night  when 
the  Supper  of  the  Lord  was  given  was  the  same  night 
when  He  was  betrayed. 

BREAD   AND    WINE. 

"And  as  they  were  eating,  He  took  bread,  and  when  He  had  blessed. 
He  brake  it,  and  gave  to  them,  and  said,  Take  ye  :  this  is  My  body. 
And  He  took  a  cup,  and  when  He  had  given  tlianks.  He  gave  to  them  : 
and  they  all  drank  of  it.  And  He  said  unto  them.  This  is  My  blood 
of  the  covenant,  which  is  shed  for  many.  Varily  I  say  unto  you,  I 
Vv'ill  no  more  drink  of  the  fruit  of  the  vine,  until  that  day  when  I  drink 
it  new  in  tlie  kingdom  of  God. " — Mark  xiv.  22-25  (I'^-V.). 

How  much  does  the  Gospel  of  St.  Mark  tell  us  about 
the  Supper  of  the  Lord?  He  is  writing  to  Gentiles. 
He  is  writing  probably  before  the  sixth  chapter  of 
St.  John  was  penned,  certainly  before  it  reached  his 
readers.  Now  we  must  not  undervalue  the  reflected 
light  thrown  by  one  Scripture  upon  another.  Still  less 
may  we  suppose  that  each  account  conveys  all  the 
doctrine  of  the  Eucharist.  But  it  is  obvious  that 
St.  Mark  intended  his  narrative  to  be  complete  in 
itself,  even  if  not  exhaustive.  No  serious  expositor 
will  ignore  the  fulness  of  any  word  or  action  in  which 
later  experience  can  discern  meanings,  trul}'  involved, 
although  not  apparent  at  the  first.  That  would  be 
to  deny  the  inspiring  guidance  of  Him  who  sees  the 


Mark  xiv.  22-25.]         BREAD   AND    WINE.  375' 


end  from  the  beginning.  But  it  is  reasonable  to  omit 
from  the  interpretation  of  St.  Mark  whatever  is  not 
either  exphcitly  there,  or  else  there  in  germ,  waiting 
underneath  the  surface  for  other  influences  to  develope 
it.  For  instance,  the  "remembrance"  of  Christ 
in  St.  Paul's  narrative  may  (or  it  may  not)  mean  a 
sacrificial  memorial  to  God  of  His  Body  and  His  Blood. 
If  it  be,  this  notion  was  to  be  conveyed  to  the  readers 
of  this  Gospel  hereafter,  as  a  quite  new  fact,  resting 
upon  other  authority.  It  has  no  place  whatever  here, 
and  need  only  be  mentioned  to  point  out  that  St.  Maik 
did  not  feel  bound  to  convey  the  slightest  hint  of  it. 
A  communion,  therefore,  could  be  profitably  celebrated 
by  persons  who  had  no  glimmering  of  any  such  con- 
ception. Nor  does  he  rely,  for  an  understanding  of 
his  narrative,  upon  such  familiarity  with  Jewish  ritual 
as  would  enable  his  readers  to  draw  subtle  analogies 
as  they  went  along.  They  were  so  ignorant  of  these 
observances  that  he  had  just  explained  to  them  on 
what  day  the  passover  was  sacrificed  (ver.  12). 

But  this  narrative  conveys  enough  to  make  the 
Lord's  Supper,  for  every  believing  heart,  the  supreme 
help  to  faith,  both  intellectual  and  spiritual,  and  the 
mightiest  of  promises,  and  the  richest  gift  of  grace. 

It  is  hard  to  imagine  that  any  reader  would  conceive 
that  the  bread  in  Christ's  hands  had  become  His  body, 
which  still  lived  and  breathed  ;  or  that  His  blood,  still 
flowing  in  His  veins,  was  also  in  the  cup  He  gave  to 
His  disciples.  No  resort  could  be  made  to  the  glorifica- 
tion of  the  risen  Body  as  an  escape  from  the  perplexities 
of  such  a  notion,  for  in  whatever  sense  the  words  are 
true,  they  were  spoken  of  the  body  of  His  humiliation, 
before  which  sti'.l  lay  the  agony  and  the  tomb. 

Instinct  would  revolt  yet  more  against  such  a  gross 


376  GOSPEL   OF  ST.    MARK'. 

explanation,  because  the  friends  of  Jesus  are  bidden 
to  eat  and  drink.  And  all  the  analogy  of  Christ's 
language  would  prove  that  His  vivid  style  refuses  to 
be  tied  down  to  so  lifeless  and  mechanical  a  treatment. 
Even  in  this  Gospel  they  could  discover  that  seed  was 
teaching,  and  fowls  were  Satan,  and  that  they  were 
themselves  His  mother  and  His  brethren.  Further 
knowledge  of  Scripture  would  not  impair  this  natural 
freedom  of  interpretation.  For  they  would  discover 
that  if  animated  language  were  to  be  frozen  to  such 
literalism,  the  partakers  of  the  Supper  were  them- 
selves, though  many,  one  body  and  one  loaf,  that 
Onesimus  was  St.  Paul's  very  heart,  that  leaven  is 
hypocris}^,  that  Hagar  is  Mount  Sinai,  and  that  the  veil 
of  the  temple  is  the  flesh  of  Christ  ( I  Cor.  x.  17;  Philem. 
ver.  12;  Luke  xii.  i  ;  Gal.  iv.  25  ;  Heb.  x.  20).  And 
they  would  also  find,  in  the  analogous  institution  of 
the  paschal  feast,  a  similar  use  of  language  (Exod. 
xii.  1 1). 

But  when  they  had  failed  to  discern  the  doctrine  of 
a  transubstantiation,  how  much  was  left  to  them.  The 
great  words  remained,  in  all  their  spirit  and  life,  "  Take 
ye,  this  is  My  Body  .  .  .  this  is  My  Blood  of  the 
Covenant,  which  is  shed  for  many." 

(i)  So  then,  Christ  did  not  look  forward  to  His 
death  as  to  ruin  or  overthrow.  The  Supper  is  an 
institution  which  could  never  have  been  devised  at 
any  later  period.  It  comes  to  us  by  an  unbroken  line 
from  the  Founder's  hand,  and  attested  by  the  earliest 
witnesses.  None  could  have  interpolated  a  new  ordi- 
nance into  the  simple  worship  of  the  early  Church,  and 
the  last  to  suggest  such  a  possibility  should  be  those 
sceptics  who  are  deeply  interested  in  exaggerating  the  es- 
tranfjements  which  existed  from  the  first. and  which  made 


Mark  xiv.  22-25-]  BREAD   AND    WINE.  377 

the  Jewish  Church  a  keen  critic  of  Gentile  innovation, 
and  the  Gentiles  of  a  Jewish  novelty. 

Nor  could  any  genius  have  devised  its  vivid  and 
pictorial  earnestness,  its  copious  meaning,  and  its 
pathetic  power  over  the  heart,  except  His,  Who  spoke 
of  the  Good  Shepherd  and  of  the  Prodigal  Son.  And 
so  it  tells  us  plainly  what  Christ  thought  about  His  own 
death.  Death  is  to  most  of  us  simply  the  close  of  life. 
To  Him  it  was  itself  an  achievement,  and  a  supreme 
one.  Now  it  is  possible  to  remember  with  exultation 
a  victory  which  cost  the  conquerors  life.  But  on  the 
Friday  which  we  call  Good,  nothing  happened  except 
the  crucifixion.  The  effect  on  the  Church,  which  is 
amazing  and  beyond  dispute,  is  produced  by  the  death 
of  her  Founder,  and  by  nothing  else.  The  Supper  has 
no  reference  to  Christ's  resurrection.  It  is  as  if  the 
nation  exulted  in  Trafalgar,  not  in  spite  of  the  death 
of  our  great  Admiral,  but  solely  because  he  died  ;  as  if 
the  shot  which  slew  Nelson  had  itself  been  the  over- 
throw of  hostile  navies.  Now  the  history  of  religions 
offers  no  parallel  to  this.  The  admirers  of  the  J3uddha 
love  to  celebrate  the  long  spiritual  struggle,  the  final 
illumination,  and  the  career  of  gentle  helpfulness.  They 
do  not  derive  life  and  energy  from  the  somewhat  vulgar 
manner  of  his  death.  But  the  followers  of  Jesus  find 
an  inspiration  (very  displeasing  to  some  recent  apostles 
of  good  taste)  in  singing  of  their  Redeemer's  blood. 
Remove  from  the  Creed  (which  does  not  even  mention 
His  three  years  of  teaching)  the  proclamation  of  His 
death,  and  there  may  be  left,  dimly  visible  to  man,  the 
outline  of  a  sage  among  the  sages,  but  there  will  he  no 
longer  a  Messiah,  nor  a  Church.  It  is  because  He  was 
lifted  up  that  He  draws  all  men  unto  Him.  The  per- 
petual nourishment  of  the  Church,  her  bread  and  wine, 


378  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 


are  be3^ond  question  the  slain  bod}'  of  her  Master  and 
His  blood  poured  out  for  man. 

What  are  we  to  make  of  this  admitted  fact,  that  from 
the  first  she  thought  less  of  His  miracles,  His  teaching, 
and  even  of  His  revelation  of  the  Divine  character  in 
a  perfect  life,  than  of  the  doctrine  that  He  who  thus 
lived,  died  for  the  men  who  slew  Him  ?  And  what 
of  this,  that  Jesus  Himself,  in  the  presence  of  imminent 
death,  when  men  review  their  lives  and  set  a  value  on 
their  achievements,  embodied  in  a  solemn  ordinance 
the  conviction  that  all  He  had  taught  and  done  was 
less  to  man  than  what  He  was  about  to  suffer  ?  The 
Atonement  is  here  proclaimed  as  a  cardinal  fact  in  our 
religion,  not  worked  out  into  doctrinal  subtleties,  but 
placed  with  marvellous  simplicity  and  force,  in  the  fore- 
front of  the  consciousness  of  the  simplest.  What  the 
Incarnation  does  for  our  bewildering  thoughts  of  God, 
the  absolute  and  unconditioned,  that  does  the  Eucha- 
rist for  our  subtle  reasonings  upon  the  Atonement. 

(2)  The  death  of  Christ  is  thus  precious,  because  He 
Who  is  sacrificed  for  us  can  give  Himself  awa3\  "  Take 
ye  "  is  a  distinct  offer.  And  so  the  communion  feast 
is  not  a  mere  commemoration,  such  as  nations  hold  for 
great  deliverances.  It  is  this,  but  it  is  much  more, 
else  the  language  of  Christ  Vi'ould  apply  worse  to  that 
first  supper  whence  all  our  Eucharistic  language  is 
derived,  than  to  any  later  celebration.  When  He  was 
absent,  the  bread  would  very  aptly  remind  them  of  His 
wounded  body,  and  the  wine  of  His  blood  poured  out. 
It  might  naturally  be  said.  Henceforward,  to  your  loving 
remembrance  this  shall  be  my  Body,  as  indeed,  the 
words,  As  oft  as  ye  drink  it,  are  actually  linked  with 
the  injunction  to  do  this  in  remembrance.  But  scarcely 
could  it  have  been  said  by  Jesus,  looking  His  disciples 


Mark  xiv.  22-25.]         BREAD   AND    WINE.  379 

in  the  face,  that  the  elements  were  then  His  body  and 
blood,  if  nothing  more  than  commemoration  were  in 
His  mind.  And  so  long  as  popular  Protestantism  fails 
to  look  beyond  this,  so  long  will  it  be  hard  pressed  and 
harassed  by  the  evident  weight  of  the  words  of  institu- 
tion. These  are  given  in  Scripture  solely  as  having 
been  spoken  then,  and  no  interpretation  is  valid  which 
attends  chiefly  to  subsequent  celebrations,  and  only  in 
the  second  place  to  the  Supper  of  Jesus  and  the  Eleven. 

Now  the  most  strenuous  opponent  of  the  doctrine 
that  any  change  has  passed  over  the  material  substance 
of  the  bread  and  wine,  need  not  resist  the  palpable 
evidence  that  Christ  appointed  these  to  represent  Him- 
self. And  how  ?  Not  only  as  sacrificed  for  His  people, 
but  as  verily '  bestowed  upon  them.  Unless  Christ 
mocks  us,  "  Take  ye  "  is  a  word  of  absolute  assurance. 
Christ'^  Body  is  not  only  slain,  and  His  Blood  shed  on 
our  behalf;  He  gives  Himself  to  us  as  well  as  for  us; 
He  is  ours.  And  therefore  whoever  is  convinced  that 
he  may  take  part  in  "  the  sacrament  of  so  great  a 
mystery  "  should  realize  that  he  there  receives,  con- 
veyed to  him  by  the  Author  of  that  wondrous  feast,  all 
that  is  expressed  by  the  bread  and  wine, 

(3)  And  yet  this  very  word  "Take  ye,"  demands  our 
co-operation  in  the  sacrament.  It  requires  that  we 
should  receive  Christ,  as  it  declares  that  He  is  ready  to 
impart  Himself,  utterly,  like  food  which  is  taken  into  the 
S3^stem,  absorbed,  assimilated,  wrought  into  bone,  into 
tissue  and  into  blood.  And  if  any  doubt  lingered  in  our 
minds  of  the  significance  of  this  word,  it  is  removed 
when  we  remember  how  belief  is  identified  with  feed- 
ing, in  St.  John's  Gospel.  "  I  am  the  bread  of  life  : 
he  that  cometh  to  Me  shall  not  hunger,  and  he  that 
believeth  on    Me    shall    never   thirst.    .    .    .    He    that 


380  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

believeth  hath  eternal  hfe.  I  am  the  bread  of  life." 
(John  vi.  35,  47,  48.)  If  it  follows  that  to  feed  upon 
Christ  is  to  believe,  it  also  follows  quite  as  plainly  that 
belief  is  not  genuine  unless  it  really  feeds  upon  Christ. 

It  is  indeed  impossible  to  imagine  a  more  direct  and 
vigorous  appeal  to  man  to  have  faith  in  Christ  than 
this,  that  He  formally  conveys,  by  the  agency  of  His 
Church,  to  the  hands  and  lips  of  His  disciples,  the 
appointed  emblem  of  Himself,  and  of  Himself  in  the  act 
of  blessing  them.  For  the  emblem  is  food  in  its  most 
nourishing  and  in  its  most  stimulating  form,  in  a  form 
the  best  fitted  to  speak  of  utter  self-sacrifice,  by  the 
bruised  corn  of  broken  bread,  and  by  the  solemn  re- 
semblance to  His  sacred  blood.  We  are  taught  to 
see,  in  the  absolute  absorption  of  our  food  into  our 
bodily  system,  a  type  of  the  completeness  wherewith 
Christ  gives  Himself  to  us. 

That  gift  is  not  to  the  Church  in  the  gross,  it  is 
"  divided  among  "  us  ;  it  individualizes  each  believer  ; 
and  yet  the  common  food  expresses  the  unity  of  the 
whole  Church  in  Christ.     Being  many  we  are  one  bread. 

Moreover,  the  institution  of  a  meal  reminds  us  that 
faith  and  emotion  do  not  always  exist  together.  Times 
there  are  when  the  hunger  and  thirst  of  the  soul  are 
like  the  craving  of  a  sharp  appetite  for  food.  But  the 
wise  man  will  not  postpone  his  meal  until  such  a  keen 
desire  returns,  and  the  Christian  will  seek  for  the 
Bread  of  life,  however  his  emotions  may  flag,  and  his 
soul  cleave  unto  the  dust.  Silently  and  often  unaware, 
as  the  substance  of  the  body  is  renovated  and  restored 
by  food,  shall  the  inner  man  be  strengthened  and 
built  up  by  that  living  Bread. 

(4)  We  have  yet    to  ask   the  great   question,   what 
is  the  specific  blessing  expressed  by  the  elements,  and 


Mark  xiv.  22-25-]  BREAD    AND    WINE.  381 

therefore  surely  given  to  the  faithful  by  the  sacraaien;. 
Too  many  are  content  to  think  vaguely  of  Divine 
help,  given  us  for  the  merit  of  the  death  of  Christ, 
But  bread  and  wine  do  not  express  an  indefinite 
Divine  help,  they  express  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ, 
they  have  to  do  with  His  Humanity.  We  must 
beware,  indeed,  of  limiting  the  notion  overmuch.  At 
the  Supper  He  said  not  "  My  flesh,"  but  "  My  body," 
which  is  plainly  a  more  comprehensive  term.  And 
in  the  discourse  when  He  said  My  Flesh  is  meat 
indeed,''  He  also  said  "  I  am  the  bread  of  life.  .  .  . 
He  that  eateth  Me,  the  same  shall  live  by  Me."  And 
we  may  not  so  carnalize  the  Body  as  to  exclude  the 
Person,  who  bestows  Himself.  Yet  is  all  the  language 
so  constructed  as  to  force  the  conviction  upon  us  that 
His  body  and  blood.  His  Humanity,  is  the  special 
gift  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  As  man  He  redeemed  us, 
and  as  man  He  imparts  Himself  to  man. 

Thus  we  are  led  up  to  the  sublime  conception  of  a  new 
human  force  working  in  humanity.  As  truly  as  the 
life  of  our  parents  is  in  our  veins,  and  the  corruption 
which  they  inherited  from  Adam  is  passed  on  to  us,  so 
truly  there  is  abroad  in  the  world  another  influence, 
stronger  to  elevate  than  the  infection  of  the  fall  is  to 
degrade  ;  and  the  heart  of  the  Church  is  propelling  to 
its  utmost  extremities  the  pure  life  of  the  Second  Adam, 
the  Second  Man,  the  new  Father  of  the  race.  As  in 
Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive ; 
and  we  who  bear  now  the  image  of  our  earthy  pro- 
genitor shall  hereafter  bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly. 
Meanvvhile,  even  as  the  waste  and  dead  tissues  of  our 
bodily  frame  are  replaced  by  new  material  from  every 
meal,  so  does  He,  the  living  Bread,  impart  not  only 
aid  from  heaven,  but  nourishment,  strength  to  our  poor 


382  GOSPEL   OF  ST.   MARK. 

human  nature,  so  weary  and  exhausted,  and  renovation 
to  what  is  sinful  and  decayed.  How  well  does  such 
a  doctrine  of  the  sacrament  harmonize  with  the 
declarations  of  St.  Paul :  "  I  live,  and  yet  no  longer  I, 
but  Christ  liveth  in  me."  "  The  Head,  from  whom  all 
the  body  being  supplied  and  knit  together  through  the 
joints  and  bands,  increaseth  with  the  increase  of  God  " 
(Gal.  ii  20  ;  Col.  ii  19). 

(5)  In  the  brief  narrative  of  St.  Mark,  there  are  a 
few  minor  points  of  interest. 

Fasting  communions  may  possibly  be  an  expression 
of  reverence  only.  The  moment  they  are  pressed 
further,  or  urged  as  a  duty,  they  are  strangely  confronted 
by  the  words,  "  While  they  were  eating,  Jesus  took 
bread." 

The  assertion  that  "  they  all  drank,"  follows  from 
the  express  commandment  recorded  elsewhere.  And 
while  w^e  remember  that  the  first  communicants  were 
not  laymen,  yet  the  emphatic  insistence  upon  this 
detail,  and  with  reference  only  to  the  cup,  is  entirely  at 
variance  with  the  Roman  notion  of  the  completeness 
of  a  communion  in  one  kind. 

It  is  most  instructive  also  to  observe  how  the  far- 
reaching  expectation  of  our  Lord  looks  beyond  the 
Eleven,  and  beyond  His  infant  Church,  forward  to  the 
great  multitude  which  no  man  can  number,  and  speaks 
of  the  shedding  of  His  blood  "for  many."  He,  who  is 
to  see  of  the  travail  of  His  soul  and  to  be  satisfied,  has 
already  spoken  of  a  great  supper  when  the  house  ot 
God  shall  be  filled.  And  now  He  will  no  more  drink 
of  the  fruit  of  the  vine  until  that  great  day  when  the 
marriage  of  the  Lamb  having  come,  and  His  Bride 
having  made  herself  ready,  He  shall  drink  it  new  in  the 
consummated  kingdom  of  God. 


Mark  xiv,  26-31.]  THE    WARNING.  383 

With  the  announcement  of  that  kingdom  He  began 
His  gospel  :  liow  could  the  mention  of  it  be  omitted 
from  the  great  gospel  of  the  Eucharist  ?  or  how  could 
the  Giver  of  the  earthly  feast  be  silent  concerning  the 
banquet  yet  to  come  ? 


THE    WARNING 

"  And  when  they  had  sung  a  hymn,  they  went  out  into  the  mount  of 
Olives.  And  Jesus  saiih  unto  tliem,  All  ye  shall  be  offended  :  for  it  is 
written,  I  will  smite  the  shepherd,  and  the  sheep  shall  be  scattered 
abioad.  Ilowbeit,  after  I  am  raised  up,  I  will  go  before  you  iuto 
Galilee.  But  Peter  said  unto  Jtlim,  Although  all  shall  be  offended,  yet 
will  not  I.  And  Jesus  saith  ur.io  him,  Verily  I  say  unto  thee,  that  thou 
to-day,  fvcn  this  night,  before  the  cock  crow  twice,  shalt  deny  me 
thrice.  But  he  spake  e.Kceeding  vehemeatly,  If  I  must  die  with  Thee, 
I  will  not  deny  Thee.  And  in  like  manner  also  said  they  all." — jM.-vric 
xiv.  26-31    (R.V.). 

Some  uncertainty  attaches  to  the  position  of  Christ's 
warning  to  the  Eleven  in  the  narrative  of  the  last 
evening.  Was  it  given  at  the  supper,  or  on  Mount 
Olivet ;  or  were  there  perhaps  premonitory  admoni- 
tions on  His  part,  met  by  vows  of  faithfulness  on 
theirs,  which  at  last  led  Him  to  speak  out  so  plainly, 
and  elicited  such  vainglorious  protestations,  when  they 
sat  together  in  the  night  air  ? 

What  concerns  us  more  is  the  revelation  of  a  calm 
and  beautiful  nature,  at  every  point  in  the  narrative. 
Jesus  knows  and  has  declared  that  His  life  is  now 
closing,  and  His  blood  already  "  being  shed  for  many." 
But  that  does  not  prevent  Him  from  joining  with  them 
in  singing  a  hymn.  It  is  the  onl}^  time  when  we  are 
told  tb.at  our  Saviour  sang,  evidently  because  no  other 
occasion  needed  mention ;  a  warning  to  those  who 
draw  confluent  inferences  from  such  facts  as  that  "  none 


384  GOSPEL   OF  ST.    MARK, 

ever  said  He  smiled,"  oi"  that  there  is  no  record  of  His 
having  been  sick.  It  would  surprise  such  theorists  to 
observe  the  number  of  biographies  much  longer  than  any 
of  the  Gospels,  which  also  mention  nothing  of  the  kind. 
The  Psalms  usually  sung  at  the  close  of  the  feast  are  cxv. 
and  the  three  following.  The  first  tells  how  the  dead 
praise  not  the  Lord,  but  we  will  praise  Him  from  this 
time  forth  for  ever.  The  second  proclaims  that  the 
Lord  hath  delivered  my  soul  from  death,  mine  eyes 
from  tears,  and  my  feet  from  falling.  The  third  bids 
all  the  nations  praise  the  Lord,  for  his  merciful  kindness 
is  great  and  His  truth  endureth  for  ever.  And  the 
fourth  rejoices  because,  although  all  nations  compassed 
me  about,  yet  I  shall  not  die,  but  live  and  declare  the 
works  of  the  Lord  ;  and  because  the  stone  which  the 
builders  rejected  is  become  the  head  stone  of  the  corner. 
Memories  of  infinite  sadness  were  awakened  by  the 
words  which  had  so  lately  rung  around  His  path  : 
"  Blessed  is  He  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  ; " 
but  His  voice  was  strong  to  sing,  "  Bind  the  sacrifice  with 
cords,  even  to  the  horns  of  the  altar  ;  "  and  it  rose  to  the 
exultant  close,  "Thou  art  my  God,  and  I  will  praise 
Thee  :  Thou  art  my  God,  I  will  exalt  Thee.  O  give 
thanks  unto  the  Lord  for  He  is  good,  for  His  mercy 
endureth  for  ever." 

This  hymn,  from  the  lips  of  the  Perfect  One,  could 
be  no  "  dying  swan-song."  It  uplifted  that  more  than 
heroic  heart  to  the  wonderful  tranquillity  which  presently 
said,  "  When  I  am  risen,  I  will  go  before  you  into 
Galilee."  It  is  full  of  victory.  And  now  they  go  unto 
the  Mount  of  Olives. 

Is  it  enough  considered  how  much  of  the  life  of 
Jesus  was  passed  in  the  open  air?  He  preached  on 
the  hill  side  ;  He  desired  that  a  boat  should  be  at  His 


Mark.  xiv.  26-31.]  THE    IVARI^ING.  3S5 

command  upon  the  lake  ;  He  prayed  upon  the  moun- 
tain; He  was  transfigured  beside  the  snows  of  Hermon; 
He  oft-times  resorted  to  a  garden  which  had  not  yet 
grown  awful ;  He  met  His  disciples  on  a  Galilean 
mountain;  and  He  finally  ascended  from  the  Mount 
of  Olives.  His  unartificial  normal  life,  a  pattern  to 
us,  not  as  students  but  as  men — was  spent  by  prefer- 
ence neither  in  the  study  nor  the  street. 

In  this  crisis,  most  solemn  and  yet  most  calm,  He 
leaves  the  crowded  city  into  which  all  the  tribes  had 
gathered,  and  chooses  for  His  last  intercourse  with 
His  disciples,  the  slopes  of  the  opposite  hill  side,  while 
overhead  is  glowing,  in  all  the  still  splendour  of  an 
Eastern  sky,  the  full  moon  of  Passover.  Here  then 
is  the  place  for  one  more  emphatic  warning.  Think 
how  He  loved  them.  As  His  mind  reverts  to  the 
impending  blow,  and  apprehends  it  in  its  most  awful 
form,  the  very  buffet  of  God  Who  Himself  will  smite 
the  Shepherd,  He  remembers  to  warn  His  disciples  of 
their  weakness.  We  feel  it  to  be  gracious  that  He 
should  think  of  them  at  such  a  time.  But  if  we  drew 
a  little  nearer,  we  should  almost  hear  the  beating  of 
the  most  loving  heart  that  ever  broke.  They  were 
all  He  had.  In  them  He  had  confided  utterly.  Even 
as  the  Father  had  loved  Him,  He  also  had  loved  them, 
the  firstfruits  of  the  travail  of  His  soul.  He  had 
ceased  to  call  them  servants  and  had  called  them 
friends.  To  them  He  had  spoken  those  affecting 
words,  "Ye  are  they  which  have  continued  with  me  in 
My  temptations."  How  intensely  He  clung  to  their 
sympathy,  imperfect  though  it  was,  is  best  seen  by 
His  repeated  appeals  to  it  in  the  Agony.  And  He 
knew  that  they  loved  Him,  that  the  spirit  v/as  willing, 
;'  at  they  would  weep  and  lament  for  Him,  sorrowing 

25 


3S6  GOSPEL    OF   ST.    MARK. 

with    a  sorrow   which    He    hastened   to   add   that    He 
would  turn  into  joy. 

It  is  the  preciousness  of  their  fellowship  which 
■reminds  Him  how  this,  hke  all  else,  must  fail  Him. 
If  there  is  blame  in  the  words,  "  Ye  shall  be  offended," 
this  passes  at  once  into  exquisite  sadness  when  He 
adds  that  He,  Who  so  lately  said,  "  Them  that  Thou 
gavest  Me,  I  have  guarded,"  should  Himself  be  the 
cause  of  their  offence,  "  All  ye  shall  be  caused  to 
stumble  because  of  Me."  And  there  is  an  unfathom- 
able tenderness,  a  marvellous  allowance  for  their  frailty 
in  what  follows.  They  were  His  sheep,  and  therefore 
as  helpless,  as  little  to  be  relied  upon,  as  sheep  when 
the  shepherd  is  stricken.  How  natural  it  was  for  sheep 
to  be  scattered. 

The  world  has  no  parallel  for  such  a  warning  to 
comrades  who  are  about  to  leave  their  leader,  so  faith- 
ful and  yet  so  tender,  so  far  from  estrangement  or 
reproach. 

If  it  stood  alone  it  would  prove  the  Founder  of  the 
Church  to  be  not  only  a  great  teacher,  but  a  genuine 
Son  of  man. 

For  Himself,  He  does  not  share  their  weakness,  nor 
apply  to  Himself  the  lesson  of  distrustfulness  which 
He  teaches  them ;  He  is  of  another  nature  from  these 
trembling  sheep,  the  Shepherd  of  Zechariah,  "  Who  is 
My  fellow,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts."  He  does  not 
shrink  from  applying  to  Himself  this  text,  which 
awakens  against  Him  the  sword  of  God  (Zechariah 
xiii.  7). 

Looking  now  beyond  the  grave  to  the  resurrection, 
and  unestranged  by  their  desertion.  He  resumes  at 
once  the  old  relation  ;  for  as  the  shepherd  goeth  before 
his  sheep,   and  they  follow  him,  so  He  will  go  before 


Mark  xiv.  26-31.] 


THE    WARNING.  3^7 


them  into  Galilee,  to  the  familiar  places,  far  from  the 
city  where  men  hate  Him. 

This  last  touch  of  quiet  human  feeling  completes 
an  utterance  too  beautiful,  too  characteristic  to  be 
spurious,  yet  a  prophecy,  and  one  which  attests  the 
ancient    predictions,   and  which    involves    an   amazmg 


clann. 


At  first  sight  it  is   surprising  that  the  Eleven  who 
were  lately  so  conscious  of  weakness  that  each  asked 
was    he    the   traitor,    should    since    have    become    too 
self-confident  to  profit  by  a  solemn  admonition.     But 
a   little  examination   shows  the  two   statements  to  be 
quite   consistent.     They   had   wronged    themselves   by 
that  suspicion,  and  never  is  self-reliance  more  boastful 
than  when   it   is   reassured  after  being   shaken.     The 
institution   of  the   Sacrament  had  invested  them  with 
new  privileges,   and  drawn   them   nearer  than  ever  to 
their  Master.     Add  to   this  the   infinite  tenderness  of 
the  last  discourse  in  St.  John,  and  the  prayer  which 
was  for  them  and  not  for  the  world.     How  did  their 
hearts  burn  within  them  as  He  said,    "Holy  Father, 
keep  them  in  Thy  name  whom  Thou  hast  given  Me." 
Hov/  incredible  must    it  then   have    seemed   to    them, 
thrilling  with  real   sympathy  and  loyal  gratitude,  that 
they  should  forsake  such  a  Master. 

Nor  must  we  read  in  their  words  merely  a  loud  and 
indignant  self-assertion,  all  unworthy  of  the  time  and 
scene.  They  were  meant  to  be  a  solemn  vow.  The 
love  they  professed  was  genuine  and  warm.  Only 
they  forgot  their  weakness  ;  they  did  not  observe  the 
words  which  declared  them  to  be  helpless  sheep,  en- 
tirely dependent  on  the  Shepherd,  whose  support  would 
speedily  seem  to  fail. 

Instead  of  harsh  and  unbecoming    criticism,  which 


3S8  GOSPEL   OF  ST.    MARK. 

repeats  almost  exactly  their  fault  by  implying  that  we 
should  not  yield  to  the  same  pressure,  let  us  learn 
the  lesson,  that  religious  exaltation,  a  sense  of  special 
privilege,  and  the  glow  of  generous  emotions,  have 
their  own  danger.  Unless  vv^e  continue  to  be  as  little 
children,  receiving  the  Bread  of  Life,  without  an}'  pre- 
tence to  have  deserved  it,  and  conscious  still  that  our 
only  protection  is  the  staff  of  our  Shepherd,  then  the 
very  notion  that  we  are  something,  when  we  are  no- 
thing, will  betray  us  to  defeat  and  shame. 

Peter  is  the  loudest  in  his  protestations  ;  and  there 
is  a  painful  egoism  in  his  boast,  that  even  if  the  others 
fail,  he  will  never  deny  Him.  So  in  the  storm,  it  is 
he  who  should  be  called  across  the  waters.  And  so  an 
early  reading  makes  him  propose  that  he  alone  should 
build  the  tabernacles  for  the  wondrous  Three. 

Naturally  enough,  this  egoism  stimulates  the  rest. 
For  them,  Peter  is  among  those  who  may  fail,  while 
each  is  confident  that  he  himself  cannot.  Thus  the 
pride  of  one  excites  the  pride  of  many. 

But  Christ  has  a  special  humiliation  to  reveal  for 
his  special  self-assertion.  That  day,  and  even  before 
that  brief  night  was  over,  before  the  second  cock- 
crowing  ("  the  cock-crow "  of  the  rest,  being  that 
which  announced  the  dawn)  he  shall  deny  his  Master 
twice.  Peter  does  not  observe  that  his  eager  contra- 
dictions are  already  den3'ing  the  Master's  profoundcst 
claims.  The  others  join  in  his  renewed  protesta- 
tions, and  their  Lord  answers  them  no  more.  Since 
they  refuse  to  learn  from  Him,  they  must  be  left  to 
the  stern  schooling  of  experience.  Even  before  the 
betrayal,  they  had  an  opportunity  to  judge  how  little 
their  good  intentions  might  avail.  For  Jesus  now 
enters  Gethsemane. 


Mark  xiv.  32-42.]  IN    THE    GARDEN. 


IN   THE   GARDEN. 

"  And  they  come  mito  a  place  which  was  named  Gctbsemane  :  and  lie 
saith  unto  His  disciples,  Sit  ye  here,  while  I  pray.  And  He  taketh  v\iih 
Him  Peter  and  James  and  John,  and  began  to  be  greatly  amazed,  and 
sore  troubled.  And  He  saith  unto  them,  My  soul  is  exceeding  sorrow- 
ful even  lanto  death  :  abide  ye  here,  and  watch.  And  He  went  forward 
a  little,  and  fell  on  the  ground,  and  prayed  that,  if  it  were  possible,  the 
hour  might  pass  away  from  Him.  And  He  said,  Abba,  Father,  all 
things  are  possible  unto  Thee  :  remove  this  cup  from  Me  :  howbeit  not 
what  I  will,  but  what  Thou  wilt.  And  He  cometh,  and  findeth  them 
sleeping,  and  saith  unto  Peter,  Simon,  sleepest  thou  ?  couldest  thou  not 
watch  one  hour  ?  Watch  and  pray,  that  ye  enter  not  into  temptation  : 
the  spirit  indeed  is  willing,  but  the  ^lesh  is  weak.  And  again  He  went 
away,  and  prayed,  saying  the  same  words.  And  again  He  came,  and 
found  them  sleeping,  for  their  eyes  were  very  heavy  ;  and  they  wist  not 
what  to  answer  Him.  And  He  cometh  the  third  time,  and  saith  unto 
them,  Sleep  on  now,  and  take  your  rest  :  it  is  enough  ;  the  hour  is 
come  ;  behold,  the  Son  of  man  is  betrayed  into  the  hands  of  sinners. 
Arise,  let  us  be  going  :  behold,  he  that  betrayeth  ]\Ie  is  at  hand."^ 
Mark  xiv.  32-42  (R.V.), 

All  Sci-ipture,  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  is  profitable ; 
yet  must  we  approach  with  reverence  and  solemn 
shrinking,  the  story  of  our  Saviour's  anguish.  It  is  a 
subject  for  caution  and  for  reticence,  putting  away  all 
over-curious  surmise,  all  too-subtle  theorizing,  and 
choosing  to  say  too  little  rather  than  too  much. 

It  is  possible  so  to  argue  about  the  metaphysics  of 
the  Agony  as  to  forget  that  a  suffering  huinan  heart 
was  there,  and  that  each  of  us  owes  his  soul  to  the 
victory  which  was  decided  if  not  completed  in  that 
fearful  place.  The  Evangelists  simply  tell  us  how  He 
suffered. 

Let  us  begin  with  the  accessories  of  the  scene,  and 
gradually  approach  the  centre. 

In  the  warning  of  Jesus  to  His  disciples  there  was  an 
undertone  of  deep  sorrow.     God  will  smite  Him,  and 


39°  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

they  will  all  be  scattered  like  sheep.  However  daunt- 
less be  the  purport  of  such  words,  it  is  impossible  to 
lose  sight  of  their  melancholy.  And  when  the  Eleven 
rejected  His  prophetic  warning,  and  persisted  in  trusting 
the  hearts  He  knew  to  be  so  fearful,  their  professions 
of  loyalty  could  only  deepen  His  distress,  and  intensify 
His  isolation. 

In  silence  He  turns  to  the  deep  gloom  of  the  olive 
grove,  aware  now  of  the  approach  of  the  darkest  and 
deadliest  assault. 

There  was  a  striking  contrast  between  the  scene  of 
His  first  temptation  and  His  last ;  and  His  experience 
was  exactly  the  reverse  of  that  of  the  first  Adam,  who 
began  in  a  garden,  and  was  driven  thence  into  the 
desert,  because  he  failed  to  refuse  himself  one  pleasure 
more  beside  ten  thousand.  Jesus  began  where  the 
transgression  of  men  had  driven  them,  in  the  desert 
among  the  wild  beasts,  and  resisted  not  a  luxur}'-,  but 
the  passion  of  hunger  craving  for  bread.  Now  He  is 
in  a  garden,  but  how  different  from  theirs.  Close  by 
i  •  a  city  filled  with  foemen,  w^hose  messengers  are 
already  on  His  track.  Instead  of  the  attraction  of 
a  fruit  good  for  food,  and  pleasant,  and  to  be  desired 
t')  make  one  wise,  there  is  the  grim  repulsion  of  death, 
and  its  anguish,  and  its  shame  and  mocker3^  He  is 
now  to  be  assailed  by  the  utmost  terrors  of  the  flesh 
and  of  the  spirit.  And  like  the  temptation  in  the 
wilderness,  the  assault  is  three  times  renewed. 

As  the  dark  "hour"  approached,  Jesus  confessed 
the  two  conflicting  instincts  of  our  human  nature  in  its 
extremity — the  desire  of  sympathy,  and  the  desire  of 
solitude.  Leaving  eight  of  the  disciples  at  some  distance, 
He  led  still  nearer  to  the  appointed  place  His  elect 
of  His  election,  on  whom   He  had  so  often  bestowed 


Mark  xiv.  32-42. ]i  IN   THE    GARDEN.  391 


special  privilege,  and  whose  faith  would  be  less  shaken 
by  the  sight  of  His  human  weakness,  because  they  had 
beheld  I-Iis  Divine  glory  on  the  holy  mount.  To  these 
He  opened  His  heart.  "  My  soul  is  exceeding  sorrowful, 
even  unto  death  ;  abide  ye  here  and  watch."  And  He 
went  from  them  a  little.  Their  neighbourhood  was 
a  support  in  His  dreadful  conflict,  and  He  could  at 
times  return  to  them  for  sympathy  ;  but  they  might 
not  enter  with  Him  into  the  cloud,  darker  and  deadlier 
than  that  which  they  feared  on  Hermon.  He  would 
fain  not  be  desolate,  and  yet  He  must  be  alone. 

But  when  He  returned,  they  were  asleep.  As  Jesus 
spoke  of  watching  for  one  hour,  some  time  had  doubt- 
less elapsed.  And  sorrow  is  exhausting.  If  the  spirit 
do  not  seek  for  support  from  God,  it  will  be  dragged 
down  by  the  flesh  into  heavy  sleep,  and  the  brief  and 
dangerous  respite  of  oblivion. 

It  was  the  failure  of  Peter  which  most  keenly  affected 
Jesus,  not  only  because  his  professions  had  been  so 
loud,  but  because  much  depended  on  his  force  of  cha- 
racter. Thus,  when  Satan  had  desired  to  have  them, 
that  he  might  sift  them  all  like  wheat,  the  prayers  of 
Jesus  were  especially  for  Simon,  and  it  was  he  when  he 
was  converted  who  should  strengthen  the  rest.  Surely 
then  he  at  least  might  have  watched  one  hour.  And 
what  of  John,  His  nearest  human  friend,  whose  head 
had  reposed  upon  His  bosom?  However  keen  the 
pang,  the  lips  of  the  Perfect  Friend  were  silent ;  only 
He  warned  them  all  alike  to  watch  and  pray,  because 
they  were  themselves  in  danger  of  temptation. 

That  is  a  lesson  for  all  time.  No  affection  and  no 
zeal  are  a  substitute  for  the  presence  of  God  realised, 
and  the  protection  of  God  invoked.  Loyalty  and  love 
are   not  enough  without  watchfulness  and  prayer,   for 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


even  when  the  spirit  is  wilhng,  the  flesh  is  weak,  and 
needs  to  be  upheld. 

Thus,  in  His  severest  trial  and  heaviest  oppression, 
there  is  neither  querulousness  nor  invective,  but  a  most 
ample  recognition  of  their  good  will,  a  most  generous 
allowance  for  their  weakness,  a  m.ost  sedulous  desire, 
not  that  He  should  be  comforted,  but  that  they  should 
escape  temptation. 

With  His  yearning  heart  unsoothed,  with  another 
anxiety  added  to  His  heavy  burden,  Jesus  returned  to 
His  vigil.  Three  times  He  felt  the  wound  of  unrequited 
affection,  for  their  eyes  were  very  heavy,  and  they  wist 
not  what  to  answer  Him  when  He  spoke. 

Nor  should  we  omit  to  contrast  their  bewildered 
stupefaction,  with  the  keen  vigilance  and  self-possession 
of  their  more  heavily  burdened  Lord. 

If  we  reflect  that  Jesus  must  needs  experience  all  the 
sorrows  that  human  weakness  and  human  wickedness 
could  inflict,  we  may  conceive  of  these  varied  wrongs  as 
circles  with  a  common  centre,  on  which  the  cross  was 
planted.  And  our  Lord  has  now  entered  the  first  of 
these  ;  He  has  looked  for  pity  but  there  was  no  man  ; 
His  own,  although  it  was  grief  which  pressed  them 
down,  slept  in  the  hour  of  His  anguish,  and  when  He 
bade  them  watch. 

It  is  right  to  observe  that  our  Saviour  had  not  bidden 
them  to  pray  with  Him.  They  should  watch  and  pray. 
They  should  even  watch  with  Him.  But  to  pray  for 
Him,  or  even  to  pray  with  Him,  they  were  not  bidden. 
And  this  is  always  so.  Never  do  we  read  that  Jesus 
and  any  mortal  joined  together  in  any  prayer  to  God. 
On  the  contrary,  when  two  or  three  of  them  asked  any- 
thing in  His  name.  He  took  for  Himself  the  position  of 
the  Giver  of  their  petition.      And  we  know  certainly 


Mai-kxiv.  34-42-]  THE   AGONY.  393 

that  He  did  not  invite  them  to  join  His  prayers,  for  it 
was  as  tie  was  praying  in  a  certain  place  that  when  He 
ceased,  one  of  His  disciples  desired  that  they  also  might 
be  taught  to  pray  (Luke  xi.  i).  Clearly  then  they 
were  not  wont  to  approach  the  mercy  seat  hand  in 
hand  with  Jesus.  And  the  reason  is  plain.  He  came 
directly  to  His  Father ;  no  man  else  came  unto  the 
Father  but  by  Him  ;  there  was  an  essential  difference 
between  His  attitude  towards  God  and  ours. 

Has  the  Socinian  ever  asked  himself  why,  in  this 
hour  of  His  utmost  weakness,  Jesus  sought  no  help 
from  the  intercession  of  even  the  chiefs  of  the 
apostles  ? 

It  is  in  strict  harmony  with  this  position,  that  St. 
Matthew  tells  us,  He  now  said  not  Our  Father,  but  My 
Father.  No  disciple  is  taught,  in  any  circumstances  to 
claim  for  himself  a  monopolized  or  special  sonship.  He 
may  be  in  his  closet  and  the  door  shut,  yet  must  he 
remember  his  brethren  and  say.  Our  Father.  That  is  a 
phrase  which  Jesus  never  addressed  to  God.  None  is 
partaker  of  His  Sonship  ;  none  joined  with  Him  in 
supplication  to  His  Father. 

THE  AGONY. 

"  And  He  saith  unto  them.  My  soul  is  exceeding  sorrowful,  even  unto 
death  :  abide  ye  here,  and  watch.  And  He  went  forward  a  little,  and 
fell  on  the  ground,  and  prayed  liiat,  if  it  were  possible,  the  hour  might 
pass  away  from  Him.  And  He  said,  Abba,  Father,  all  things  are 
possible  unto  Thee  ;  remove  this  cup  from  Me  :  hovvbeit  not  what  I 
will,  but  what  Thou  wilt.  And  Hecometh,  and  findeth  them  sleeping, 
and  saith  unto  l^eter,  Simon,  sleepest  thou;  ccmldest  thou  not  watch 
one  hour?  Watch  and  pray,  that  ye  enter  not  into  tcuiiitation  :  the 
s[)irit  indeed  is  willing,  but  the  flesh  is  weak.  And  again  He  went 
away,  and  prayed,  saying  the  same  words.  And  again  He  came,  and 
found  them  sleeping,  for  their  eyes  were  very  hea\y  ;  and  they  wist  not 
what  to  answer  Him.  And  He  cometh  the  third  time,  and  saith  unto 
th;m,   .Sleep  on  now,  and  take  your  rest  :  it  is  enough  ;  the  hour  is 


394  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

come  ;  behold,  tlie  Son  of  man  is  betrayed  into  the  liands  of  sinners. 
Arise,  let:  us  be  going  :  behold,  he  that  betrayeth  Me  is  at  hand/' — 
Mark  xiv.  34-42  (R.V.). 

Sceptics  and  believers  have  both  remarked  that  St. 
John,  the  only  Evangelist  who  was  said  to  have  been 
present,  gives  no  account  of  the  Agony. 

It  is  urged  by  the  former,  that  the  serene  composure 
of  the  discourse  in  his  Gospel  leaves  no  room  for  subse- 
quent mental  conflict  and  recoil  from  suffering,  which 
are  inconsistent  besides  with  his  conception  of  a  Divine 
man,  too  exalted  to  be  the  subject  of  such  emotions. 

But  do  not  the  others  know  of  composure  which  bore 
to  speak  of  His  Body  as  broken  bread,  and  seeing  in 
the  cup  the  likeness  of  His  Blood  shed,  gave  it  to  be 
the  food  of  His  Church  for  ever  ? 

Was  the  resignation  less  serene  which  spoke  of  the 
smiting  of  the  Shepherd,  and  yet  of  His  leading  back 
the  flock  to  Galilee  ?  If  the  narrative  was  rejected  as 
inconsistent  with  the  calmness  of  Jesus  in  the  fourth 
Gospel,  it  should  equally  have  repelled  the  authors  of 
the  other  three. 

We  may  grant  that  emotion,  agitation,  is  inconsistent 
with  unbelieving  conceptions  of  the  Christ  of  the  fourth 
Gospel.  But  this  only  proves  how  false  those  concep- 
tions are.  For  the  em.otion,  the  agitation,  is  already  there. 
At  the  grave  of  Lazarus  the  word  which. tells  that  when 
He  groaned  in  spirit  He  was  troubled,  describes  one's 
distress  in  the  presence  of  some  palpable  opposing 
force  (John  xi.  34).  There  was,  however,  a  much  closer 
approach  to  His  emotion  in  the  garden,  when  the  Greeic 
world  first  approached  Him.  Then  He  contrasted  its 
pursuit  of  self-culture  with  His  own  doctrine  of  self- 
sacrifice,  declaring  that  even  a  grain  of  wheat  must 
cither  die  or  abide    by  itself  alone.      To    Jesus  that 


Mark  xiv.  34-42-] 

d;;;;:;;;^^no  smooth,  easily  announced  theory,  and 
so  He  adds,  "  Now  is  My  soul  troubled,  and  what  shall 
I  say  -?  Father  save  Me  from  this  hour.  But  for  this 
cause  came  I  unto  this  hour"  (John  xn.  27). 

Such- is  the  Jesus  of  the  fourth  Gospel,  by  no  means 
that  of  its  modern  analysts.      Nor  is  enough  said  when 
we  remind  them  that  the  Speaker  of  these  words  was 
capable  of  suffering;    we  must  add  that  profound  agi- 
tation at  the  last  was  inevitable,  for  One  so  resolute  m 
coming  to  this  hour,  yet  so  keenly  sensitive  of  its  dread 
The  truth  is  that  the  silence  of  St.  John  is  quite  in 
his  manner.      It   is   so    that  he  passes  by  the  Sacra- 
ments, as  being  familiar  to  his  readers,  already  instructed 
in  the  gospel  story.     But  he  gives  previous  discourses 
in  whicl.  the  same  doctrine  is  expressed  which  was  em- 
bodied in  each  Sacrament,-the  declaration  that  Nico- 
demus  must  be  born  of  water,  and  that  the  Jews  mu 
eat  His  flesh  and  drink  His  blood.      It  is   thus    that 
instead  of  the  agony,  he  records  that  earlier  agitation 
And  this   threefold  recurrence  of   the    same  exped^n 
is  almost  incredible  except  by  design.     St.  John  was 
therefore  not  forgetful  of  Gethsemane. 

A  coarser  infidelity  has  much  to  say  about  the 
shrinking  of  our  Lord  from  death.  Such  weakness  is 
pronounced  unworthy,  and  the  bearing  of  multitudes 
of  brave  men  and  even  of  Christian  martyrs,  unmoved 
in  the  flames,  is  contrasted  with  the  strong  crying  and 

tears  of  Jesus.  r  •,   j        ^ 

It  would  suffice  to  answer  that  Jesus  also  failed  not 
when  the  trial  came,  but  before  Pontius  Pilate  wit- 
nessed a  good  confession,  and  won  upon  the  cross  the 
adoration  of  a  fellow-sufferer  and  the  confession  of  a 
Roman  soldier.  It  is  more  than  enough  to  answer 
that  His  story,  so  far  from  relaxing  the  nerve  of  human 


396  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

fortitude,  has  made  those  who  love  Him  stronger  to 
endure  tortures  than  were  emperors  and  inquisitors 
to  invent  them.  What  men  call  His  weakness  has 
inspired  ages  with  fortitude.  Moreover,  the  censure 
which  such  critics,  much  at  ease,  pronounce  on  Jesus 
expecting  crucifixion,  arises  entirely  from  the  magnifi- 
cent and  unique  standard  by  which  they  try  Him  ;  for 
who  is  so  hard-hearted  as  to  think  less  of  the  valour 
of  the  martyrs  because  it  was  bought  by  many  a  lonely 
and  intense  conflict  with  the  flesh  ? 

For  us,  we  accept  the  standard;  we  deny  that  Jesus 
in  the  garden  came  short  of  absolute  perfection  ;  but 
we  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  much  is  conceded  to  us, 
when  a  criticism  is  ruthlessly  applied  to  our  Lord  which 
would  excite  indignation  and  contempt  if  brought  to 
bear  on  the  silent  sufferings  of  any  hero  or  martyr  but 
Himself. 

Perfection  is  exactly  what  complicates  the  problem 
here. 

Conscious  of  our  own  weakness,  we  not  only  justify 
but  enjoin  upon  ourselves  every  means  of  attaining  as 
much  nobility  as  we  may.  We  "  steel  oursehes  to 
bear,"  and  therefore  we  are  led  to  expect  the  same  of 
Jesus.  We  aim  at  some  measure  of  what,  in  its  lowest 
stage,  is  callous  insensibility.  Now  that  word  is  nega- 
tive ;  it  asserts  the  absence  or  paralysis  of  a  faculty,  not 
its  fulness  and  activity.  Thus  we  attain  victory  by  a 
double  process ;  in  part  by  resolutely  turning  our  mind 
away,  and  only  in  part  by  its  ascendancy  over  appre- 
ciated distress.  We  administer  anodynes  to  the  soul. 
But  Jesus,  when  he  had  tasted  thereof,  would  not  drink. 
The  horrors  which  were  closing  around  Him  were 
perfectly  apprehended,  that  they  might  perfectly  be 
overcome. 


Mark  xiv.  34-42-]  THE   AGONY.  397 

Thus  suffering,  He  became  an  example  for  gentle 
womanhood,  and  tender  childhood,  as  well  as  man 
boastful  of  his  stoicism.  Moreover,  He  introduced  into 
the  world  a  new  type  of  virtue,  much  softer  and  more 
emotional  than  that  of  the  sages.  The  stoic,  to  whom 
pain  is  no  evil,  and  the  Indian  laughing  and  singing 
at  the  stake,  are  partly  actors  and  partly  perversions 
of  humanity.  But  the  good  Shepherd  is  also,  for  His 
gentleness,  a  lamb.  And  it  is  His  influence  which  has 
opened  our  eyes  to  see  a  charm  unknown  before,  in  the 
sensibility  of  our  sister  and  wife  and  child.  Therefore, 
since  the  perfection  of  manhood  means  neither  the 
ignoring  of  pain  nor  the  denying  of  it,  but  the  union  of 
absolute  recognition  with  absolute  mastery  of  its  fear- 
fulness,  Jesus,  on  the  approach  of  agony  and  shame, 
and  who  shall  say  what  besides,  yields  Himself 
beforehand  to  the  full  contemplation  of  His  lot.  He 
does  so,  while  neither  excited  by  the  trial,  nor  driven 
to  bay  by  the  scoffs  of  His  murderers,  but  in  solitude, 
in  the  dark,  with  stealthy  footsteps  approaching  through 
the  gloom. 

And  ever  since,  all  who  went  farthest  dow^n  into  the 
dread  Valley,  and  on  whom  the  shadow  of  death  lay 
heaviest,  found  there  the  footsteps  of  its  conqueror. 
It  must  be  added  that  we  cannot  measure  the  keenness 
of  the  sensibility  thus  exposed  to  torture.  A  physical 
organization  and  a  spiritual  nature  fresh  from  the 
creative  hand,  undegraded  by  the  transmitted  heritage 
of  ages  of  artificial,  diseased  and  sinful  habit,  unblunted 
by  one  deviation  from  natural  ways,  undrugged  by  one 
excess,  was  surely  capable  of  a  range  of  feeling  as  vast 
in  anguish  as  in  delight. 

The  sceptic  supposes  that  a  torrent  of  emotion  swept 
our  Saviour  off  His  feet.     The  only  narratives  he  can 


398  GOSPEL   OF  ST.    MARK. 

go  upon  give  quite  the  opposite  impression.  He  is 
seen  to  fathom  all  that  depth  of  misery,  He  allows  the 
voice  of  nature  to  utter  all  the  bitter  earnestness  of  its 
reluctance,  3'et  He  never  loses  self-control,  nor  wavers 
in  loyalty  to  His  Father,  nor  renounces  His  submis- 
sion to  the  Father's  will.  Nothing  in  the  scene  is 
more  astonishing  than  its  combination  of  emotion  with 
self-government.  Time  after  time  He  pauses,  gently 
and  lovingly  admonishes  others,  and  calmly  returns  to 
His  intense  and  anxious  vigil. 

Thus  He  has  won  the  only  perfect  victory.  With 
a  nature  so  responsive  to  emotion.  He  has  not  refused 
to  feel,  nor  abstracted  His  soul  from  suffering,  nor 
silenced  the  flesh  by  such  an  effort  as  when  we  shut  our 
ears  against  a  discord.  Jesus  sees  all,  confesses  that 
He  would  fain  escape,  but  resigns  Himself  to  God. 

In  the  face  of  all  asceticisms,  as  of  all  stoicisms, 
Gethsemane  is  the  eternal  protest  that  every  part  of 
human  nature  is  entitled  to  be  heard,  provided  that  the 
spirit  retains  the  arbitration  over  all. 

Hitherto  nothing  has  been  assumed  which  a  reason- 
able sceptic  can  deny.  Nor  should  such  a  reader  fail  to 
observe  the  astonishing  revelation  of  character  in  the 
narrative,  its  gentle  pathos,  its  intensity  beyond  what 
commonly  belongs  to  gentleness,  its  affection,  its  mas- 
tery over  the  disciples,  its  filial  submission.  Even  the 
rich  imaginative  way  of  thinking,  which  invented  the 
parables  and  sacraments,  is  in  the  word  "  this  cup." 

But  if  the  story  of  Gethsemane  can  be  vindicated 
from  such  a  point  of  view,  what  shall  be  said  when  it 
is  viewed  as  the  Church  regards  it  ?  Both  Testaments 
declare  that  the  sufferings  of  the  Messiah  were  super- 
natural. In  the  Old  Testament  it  was  pleasing  to  the 
Fatlier  to  bruise  Him.     The  terrible  cry  of  Jesus  to  a 


Mark  xiv.  34-42-]  THE   AGONY.  399 

God  who  had  forsaken  Him  is  conclusive  evidence  from 
the  New  Testament.  And  if  we  ask  what  such  a  cry 
may  mean,  we  find  that  He  is  a  curse  for  us,  and  made 
to  be  sin  for  us,  Who  knew  no  sin. 

If  the  older  theology  drevv'  incredible  conclusions 
from  such  words,  that  is  no  reason  why  we  should 
ignore  them.  It  is  incredible  that  God  was  angry  with 
His  Son,  or  that  in  any  sense  the  Omniscient  One 
confused  the  Saviour  with  the  sinful  world.  It  is  in- 
credible that  Jesus  ever  endured  estrangement  as  of 
lost  souls  from  the  One  Whom  in  Gethsemane  He 
called  Abba  Father,  and  in  the  hour  of  utter  darkness, 
My  God,  and  into  whose  Fatherly  hands  He  committed 
His  Spirit.  Yet  it  is  clear  that  He  is  being  treated 
otherwise  than  a  sinless  Being,  as  such,  ought  to 
expect.  His  natural  standing-place  is  exchanged  for 
ours.  And  as  our  exceeding  misery,  and  the  bitter 
curse  of  all  our  sin  fell  on  Him,  Who  bore  it  away  by 
bearing  it,  our  pollution  surely  affected  His  purity  as 
keenly  as  our  stripes  tried  Flis  sensibility.  He  shud- 
dered as  well  as  agonized.  The  deep  waters  in  which 
He  sank  were  denied  as  well  as  cold.  Only  this  can 
explain  the  agony  and  bloody  sweat.  And  as  we,  for 
whom  He  endured  it,  think  of  this,  we  can  only  be 
silent  and  adore. 

Once  more,  Jesus  returns  to  His  disciples,  but  no 
longer  to  look  for  sympathy,  or  to  bid  them  watch  and 
pray.  The  time  for  such  warnings  is  now  past:  the 
crisis,  "the  hour"  is  come,  and  His  speech  is  sad  and 
solemn.  "  Sleep  on  now  and  take  your  rest,  it  is 
enough."  Had  the  sentence  stopped  there,  none  Vv'ould 
ever  have  proposed  to  treat  it  as  a  question,  "Do  ye 
now  sleep  on  and  take  your  rest  ?  "  It  would  plainly 
have   meant,    "  Since    ye  refuse    My  counsel    and  will 


4CO  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 


none  of  my  reproof,  P  strive  no  further  to  arouse  the 
torpid  will,  the  inert  conscience,  the  inadequate  affec- 
tion.    Your  resistance  prevails  against  My  warning." 

But  critics  fail  to  reconcile  this  with  what  follows, 
"  Arise,  let  us  be  going."  They  fail  through  supposing 
that  words  of  intense  emotion  must  be  interpreted  like 
a  s3'llogism  or  a  lawj^er's  parchment. 

"  For  M}^  p^i't,  sleep  on  ;  but  your  sleep  is  now  to 
be  rudely  broken  :  take  your  rest  so  far  as  respect  for 
your  Master  should  have  kept  you  watchful  ;  but  the 
traitor  is  at  hand  to  break  such  repose,  let  him  not 
find  you  ignobly  slumbering.  '  Arise,  he  is  at  hand 
that  doth  betray  Me.'  " 

This  is  not  sarcasm,  which  taunts  and  wounds. 
But  there  is  a  lofty  and  profound  irony  in  the  contrast 
between  their  attitude  and  their  circumstances,  their 
sleep  and  the  eagerness  of  the  traitor. 

And  so  they  lost  the  most  noble  opportunity  ever 
given  to  mortals,  not  through  blank  indifterence  nor 
unbelief,  but  by  allowing  the  flesh  to  overcome  the 
spirit.  And  thus  do  multitudes  lose  heaven,  sleeping 
until  the  golden  hours  are  gone,  and  He  who  said, 
"  Sleep  on  now,"  says,  "  He  that  is  unrighteous,  let 
him  be  unrighteous  still." 

Remembering  that  defilement  was  far  more  urgent 
than  pain  in  our  Saviour's  agony,  how  sad  is  the 
meaning  of  the  words,  "  the  Son  of  man  is  betrayed 
\nto  the  hands  of  sinners,"  and  even  of  "  the  sinners," 
the  representatives  of  all  the  evil  from  which  He  had 
kept  Himself  unspotted. 

The  one  perfect  flower  of  humanity  is  thrown  by 
treachery  into  the  polluted  and  polluting  grasp  of 
wickedness  in  its  many  forms  ;  the  traitor  delivers  Hirn 
to  hirelings ;    the  hirelings    to    hypocrites  ;    the  hypo- 


Mark  xlv.  4352]  THE   ARREST.  4°! 

crites  to  an  unjust  and  sceptical  pagan  judge  ;  the  judge 
to  his  brutal  soldiery  ;  who  expose  Him  to  all  that 
malice  can  wreak  upon  the  most  sensitive  organization, 
or  ingratitude  upon  the  most  tender  heart. 

At  every  stage  an  outrage.  Every  outrage  an  appeal 
to  the  indignation  of  Him  who  held  them  in  the  hollow 
of  His  hand.  Surely  it  may  well  be  said,  Consider 
Him  who  endured  such  contradiction  ;  and  endured  it 
from   sinners  against  Himself, 

THE  ARREST. 

"And  straightway,  while  He  yet  spal<e,  cometh  Judas,  one  of  the 
twelve,  and  with  him  a  multitude  with  swords  and  staves,  from  the 
chief  priests  and  the  scribes  and  the  elders.  Now  he  that  betrayed 
Him  had  given  them  a  token,  saying,  Whomsoever  I  shall  kiss,  that  is 
He  ;  take  Him,  and  lead  Him  away  safely.  And  when  he  was  come, 
straightway  he  came  to  Him,  and  saith,  Rabbi  ;  and  kissed  Him.  And 
they  laid  hands  on  Him,  and  took  Him.  But  a  certain  one  of  them 
that  stood  by  drew  his  sword,  and  smote  the  servant  of  the  high  priest, 
and  struck  off  his  ear.  And  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them.  Are 
ye  come  out,  as  against  a  robber,  with  swords  and  staves  to  seize  Me  ? 
I  was  daily  with  you  in  the  temple  teaching,  and  ye  took  Me  not :  but 
this  is  done  that  the  scriptures  might  be  fulfilled.  And  they  all  left  Him 
and  fled.  And  a  certain  young  man  followed  with  Him,  having  a  linen 
cloth  cast  about  him,  over  his  naked  body  :  and  they  lay  hold  on  him  ; 
but  he  left  the  linen  cloth,  and  fled  naked." — Mark  xiv.  43-52  (R.V.). 

St.  Mark  has  told  this  tragical  story  in  the  most 
pointed  and  the  fewest  words.  The  healing  of  the  ear 
of  Malchus  concerns  him  not,  that  is  bu  one  miracle 
among  man}^ ;  and  Judas  passes  from  sight  unfollovved  : 
the  thought  insisted  on  is  of  foul  treason,  pitiable 
weakness,  brute  force  predominant,  majestic  remon- 
strance and  panic  flight.  From  the  central  events  no 
accessories  can  distract  him. 

There  cometh,  he  tells  us,  "Judas,  one  of  the  Twelve." 
"Who  Judas  was,  we  knew  already,  but  we  are  to  con- 

26 


402  GOSPEL   OF  ST.    MARK. 

sider  how  Jesus  felt  it  now.  Before  Ilis  eyes  is  the 
catastrophe  which  His  death  is  confronted  to  avert — 
the  death  of  a  soul,  a  chosen  and  richly  dowered  soul 
for  ever  lost — in  spite  of  so  many  warnings — in  spite 
of  that  incessant  denunciation  of  covetousness  which 
rings  through  so  much  of  His  teaching,  which  only  the 
presence  of  Judas  quite  explains,  and  which  His  terrible 
and  searching  gaze  must  have  made  like  fire,  to  sear 
since  it  could  not  melt — in  spite  of  the  outspoken 
utterances  of  these  last  days,  and  doubtless  in  spite  of 
many  prayers,  he  is  lost :  one  of  the  Twelve. 

And  the  dark  thought  would  fall  cold  upon  Christ's 
heart,  of  the  multitudes  more  who  should  receive  the 
grace  of  God,  His  ov/n  dying  love,  in  vain.  And  with 
that,  the  recollection  of  many  an  hour  of  loving-kind- 
ness wasted  on  this  familiar  friend  in  whom  He  trusted, 
and  who  now  gave  Him  over,  as  he  had  been  expressly 
warned,  to  so  cruel  a  fate.  Even  toward  Judas,  no  un- 
worthy bitterness  could  pollute  that  sacred  heart,  the 
fountain  of  unfathomable  compassions,  but  what  speech- 
less grief  must  have  been  there,  what  inconceivable 
horror.  For  the  outrage  was  dark  in  form  as  in  essence. 
Judas  apparently  conceived  that  the  Eleven  might,  as 
they  had  promised,  rally  around  their  Lord  ;  and  he 
could  have  no  perception  how  impossible  it  was  that 
Messiah  should  stoop  to  escape  under  cover  of  their 
devotion,  how  frankly  the  good  Shepherd  would  give 
His  life  for  the  sheep.  In  the  night,  he  thought,  eva- 
sion might  yet  be  attempted,  and  the  town  be  raised. 
But  he  knew  how  to  make  the  matter  sure.  No  other 
would  as  surely  as  himself  recognise  Jesus  in  the  un- 
certain light.  If  he  were  to  lay  hold  on  Him  rudely, 
the  Eleven  would  close  in,  and  in  the  struggle,  the 
prize  might  yet  be   lost.      But    approaching  a  little  in 


Mark  xiv.  43-52-]  THE  ARREST.  403 

advance,  and  peaceably,  he  would  ostentatiously  kiss 
his  Master,  and  so  clearly  point  Him  out  that  the  arrest 
would  be  accomplished  before  the  disciples  realized  what 
was  being  done. 

But  at  every  step  the  intrigue  is  overmastered  by 
the  clear  insight  of  Jesus.  As  He  foretold  the  time  of 
His  arrest,  while  yet  the  rulers  said,  Not  on  the  feast 
day,  so  He  announced  the  approach  of  the  traitor,  who 
was  then  contriving  the  last  momentary  deception  of 
his  polluting  kiss. 

We  have  already  seen  how  impossible  it  is  to  think 
of  Judas  otherwise  than  as  the  Church  has  always 
regarded  him,  an  apostate  and  a  traitor  in  the  darkest 
sense.  The  milder  theory  is  at  this  stage  shattered  by 
one  small  yet  significant  detail.  At  the  supper,  when 
conscious  of  being  suspected,  and  forced  to  speak,  he 
said  not,  hke  the  others,  "  Lord,"  but  "  Rabbi,  is  it  I  ?  " 
Now  they  meet  again,  and  the  same  word  is  on  his 
lips,  whether  by  design  and  in  Satanic  insolence,  or  in 
hysterical  agitation  and  uncertainty,  who  can  say  ? 

But  no  loyalty,  however  misled,  inspired  that  halt- 
ing and  inadequate  epithet,  no  wild  hope  of  a  sudden 
blazing  out  of  glories  too  long  concealed  is  breathed  in 
the  traitor's  Rabbi ! 

With  that  word,  and  his  envenomed  kiss,  the  "  much 
kissing,"  which  took  care  that  Jesus  should  not  shake 
him  off,  he  passes  from  this  great  Gospel.  Not  a  word 
is  here  of  his  remorse,  or  of  the  dreadful  path  down 
which  he  stumbled  to  his  own  place.  Even  the  lofty 
remonstrance  of  the  Lord  is  not  recorded  :  it  suffices 
to  have  told  how  he  betrayed  the  Son  of  man  with  a 
kiss,  and  so  infused  a  peculiar  and  subtle  poison  into 
Christ's  draught  of  deadly  wine.  That,  and  not  the 
punishment  of  that,  is  what  St.  Mark  recorded  for  the 


404  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

Church,  the  awful  fall  of  an  apostle,  chosen  of  Christ ; 
the  solemn  warning  to  all  privileged  persons,  richly 
endowed  and  highly  placed  ;  the  door  to  hell,  as  Bunyan 
has  it,  from  the  very  gate  of  Heaven. 

A  great  multitude  with  swords  and  staves  had  come 
from  the  rulers.  Possibly  some  attempt  at  rescue  was 
apprehended  from  the  Galileans  who  had  so  lately 
triumphed  around  Jesus.  More  probably  the  demon- 
stration was  planned  to  suggest  to  Pilate  that  a 
dangerous  political  agitation  had  to  be  confronted. 

At  all  events,  the  multitude  did  not  terrify  the  dis- 
ciples :  cries  arose  from  their  little  band,  "  Lord  shall  w'e 
smite  with  the  sword  ?"  and  if  Jesus  had  consented,  it 
seems  that  with  tw^o  swords  the  Eleven  whom  declaimers 
make  to  be  so  craven,  would  have  assailed  the  multitude 
in  arms. 

Now  thi^  IS  what  points  the  moral  of  their  failure. 
Few  of  us  would  confess  personal  cowardice  by  accept- 
ing a  warning  from  the  fears  of  the  fearful.  But  the 
fears  of  the  brave  must  needs  alarm  us.  It  is  one 
thing  to  defy  death,  sword  in  hand,  in  some  wild 
hour  of  chivalrous  effort — although  the  honours  we 
shower  upon  the  valiant  prove  that  even  such  fortitude 
is  less  common  than  we  would  fain  believe.  But  there 
is  a  deep  which  opens  beyond  this.  It  is  a  harder 
thing  to  endure  the  silent  passive  anguish  to  which  the 
Lamb,  dumb  before  the  shearers,  calls  His  followers. 
The  victories  of  the  spirit  are  beyond  animal  strength 
of  nerve.  In  their  highest  forms  they  are  beyond  the 
noble  reach  of  intellectual  resolution.  How  far  beyond 
it  we  may  learn  by  contrasting  the  excitement  and 
then  the  panic  of  the  Eleven  with  the  sublime  compo- 
sure of  their  Lord. 

One   of   them,    whom    we   know  to  have  been   the 


Mark  xiv.  43-52]  THE   ARREST.  4o3 


impulsive  Simon,  showed  his  loss  of  self-control  by 
what  would  have  been  a  breach  of  discipline,  even  had 
resistance  been  intended.  While  others  asked  should 
they  smite  with  the  sword,  he  took  the  decision  upon 
himself,  and  struck  a  feeble  and  abortive  blow,  enough 
to  exasperate  but  not  to  disable.  In  so  dohig  he 
added,  to  the  sorrows  of  Jesus,  disobedience,  and  the 
inflaming  of  angry  passion  among  His  captors. 

Strange  it  is,  and  instructive,   that  the   first   act  of 
violence  in  the  annals  of  Christianity  came  not  from 
her  assailants  but  from  her  son.     And  strange  to  think 
with  what  emotions  Jesus  must  have  beheld  that  blow. 
St.  Mark  records  neither  the  healing  of  Malchus  nor 
the  rebuke    of   Peter.     Throughout    the  events  which 
now  crowd  fast  upon  us,  we  shall  not  find  him  care- 
ful about  fulness  of  detail.     This  is  never  his  manner, 
though    he    loves   any  detail   which  is    graphic,   char- 
acteristic, or  intensifying.      But  his  concern  is  with  the 
spirit  of  the  Lord  and  of  His  enemies  :  he  is  blind  to 
no   form   of  injustice   or  insult   which  heightened   the 
sufferings  of  Jesus,  to  no  manifestation  of  dignity  and 
self-control  overmastering  the  rage  of  hell.     If  He  is 
unjustly  tried  by  Caiaphas,  it  matters  nothing  that  Annas 
also  wronged  Him.     If  the  soldiers  of  Pilate  insulted 
Him,  it  matters  nothing  that  the  soldiers  of  Herod  also 
set    Him    at    nought.     Yet    the    flight    of   a  nameless 
youth  is  recorded,  since  it  adds  a  touch  to  the  picture 
of  His  abandonment. 

And  therefore  he  records  the  indignant  remonstrance 
of  Jesus  upon  the  manner  of  His  arrest.  He  was  no 
man  of  violence  and  blood,  to  be  arrested  with  a 
display  of  overwhelming  force.  He  needed  not  to  be 
sought  in  concealment  and  at  midnight. 

He  had  spoken  daily  in  the  temple,  but  then  their 


4o6  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

malice  was  defeated,  their  snares  rent  asunder,  and 
the  people  witnessed  their  exposure.  But  all  this  was 
part  of  His  predicted  suflering,  for  Whom  not  only  pain 
but  injustice  was  foretold.  Who  should  be  taken  from 
prison  and  from  judgment. 

It  was  a  lofty  remonstrance.  It  showed  how  little 
could  danger  and  betrayal  disturb  His  consciousness, 
and  how  clearly  He  discerned  the  calculation  of  His 
foes. 

At  this  moment  of  unmistakable  surrender.  His 
disciples  forsook  Him  and  fled.  One  young  man  did 
indeed  follow  Him,  springing  hastily  from  slumber  in 
some  adjacent  cottage,  and  wrapped  only  in  a  linen 
cloth.  But  he  too,  when  seized,  fled  away,  leaving  his 
only  covering  in  the  hands  of  the  soldiers. 

This  youth  may  perhaps  have  been  the  Evangelist 
himself,  of  whom  we  know  that,  a  few  years  later,  he 
joined  Paul  and  Barnabas  at  the  outset,  but  forsook 
them  when  their  journey  became  perilous. 

It  is  at  least  as  probable  that  the  incident  is  recorded 
as  a  picturesque  climax  to  that  utter  panic  which  left 
Jesus  to  tread  the  winepress  alone,  deserted  by  all, 
though  He  never  forsook  any. 

BEFORE    CAIAPHAS. 

"  And  they  led  Jesus  away  to  the  high  priest  :  and  there  come 
together  with  him  all  the  chief  priests  and  the  elders  and  the  scribes. 
And  Peter  had  followed  Him  afar  off,  even  within,  into  the  court  of  the 
high  priest ;  and  he  was  silting  with  the  officers,  and  warming  himself  in 
the  light  of  the  fire.  Now  the  chief  priests  and  the  whole  council  sought 
witness  against  Jesus  to  put  Him  to  death  ;  and  found  it  not.  1-  or 
many  bare  false  witness  against  Him,  and  their  witness  agreed  not 
together.  And  there  stood  up  certain,  and  bare  false  witness  against 
Him,  saying.  We  heard  Him  say,  I  will  destroy  this  temple  that  is 
made  with  hands,  and  in  three  days  I  will  build  another  made  without 


Mark  xiv.  53-65-]  BEFORE   CAIAPHAS.  4^7 


hands.  And  not  even  so  did  their  witness  agree  together.  And  the 
high  priest  stood  up  in  the  midst,  and  asked  Jesus,  saying,  Answerest 
Thou  nothing  ?  what  is  it  which  these  witness  against  Thee  ?  But  He 
held  His  peace  and  answered  nothing.  Again  the  high  priest  asked 
Him,  and  sailh  unto  Him,  Art  Thou  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  Blessed  ? 
And  Jesus  said,  I  am  :  and  ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  sitting  at  the 
right  hand  of  power,  and  coming  with  the  clouds  of  heaven.  And  the 
high  priest  rent  his  clothes,  and  saith,  What  further  need  have  we  of 
witnesGes  ?  Ye  have  heard  the  blasphemy  :  what  think  ye?  And  they 
all  condemned  Him  to  be  worthy  of  death.  And  some  began  to  spit 
on  Him,  and  to  cover  His  face,  and  to  buffet  Him,  and  to  say  unto 
Him,  Prophesy  :  and  the  officers  received  Him  with  blows  of  their 
hands"— Mark  xiv.  53-65  (R.V.). 

We  have  now  to  see  the  Judge  of  quick  and  dead 
taken  from  prison  and  judgment,  the  Preacher  of 
liberty  to  the  captives  bound,  and  the  Prince  of  Life 
kiUed.  It  is  the  most  solemn  page  in  earthly  story  ; 
and  as  we  read  St.  Mark's  account,  it  will  concern  us 
less  to  reconcile  his  statements  with  those  of  the  other 
three,  than  to  see  what  is  taught  us  by  his  especial 
manner  of  regarding  it.  Reconciliation,  indeed,  is  quite 
unnecessary,  if  we  bear  in  mind  that  to  omit  a  fact  is 
not  to  contradict  it.  For  St.  Mark  is  not  writing  a 
history  but  a  Gospel,  and  his  readers  are  Gentiles,  for 
whom  the  details  of  Hebrew  intrigue  matter  nothing, 
and  the  trial  before  a  Galilean  Tetrarch  would  be  only 
half  intelligible. 

St,  John,  who  had  been  an  eye-witness,  knew  that 
the  private  inquiry  before  Annas  was  vital,  for  there 
the  decision  was  taken  which  subsequent  and  more 
formal  assemblies  did  but  ratify.  He  therefore,  vv'riting 
last,  threw  this  ray  of  explanatory  light  over  all  that 
the  others  had  related.  St.  Luke  recorded  in  the  Acts 
(iv.  2/)  that  tae  apostles  recognised,  in  tlie  consent 
of  Romans  and  Jews,  and  of  Herod  and  Piiate,  what 
the  Psalmist  had  long  foretold,  the  rage  of  the  heathen 


4o8  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

and  the  vain  imagination  of  tlie  peoples,  and  the  con- 
junction of  kings  and  rulers.  His  Gospel  therefore 
lays  stress  upon  the  part  played  by  all  of  these.  And 
St.  Matthew's  readers  could  appreciate  every  fulfil- 
ment of  prophecy,  and  every  touch  of  local  colour. 
St.  Mark  offers  to  us  the  essential  points  :  rejection 
and  cruelty  by  His  countrymen,  rejection  and  cruelty 
over  again  by  Rome,  and  the  dignity,  the  elevation,  the 
lofty  silence  and  the  dauntless  testimony  of  his  Lord. 
As  we  read,  we  are  conscious  of  the  weakness  of  His 
crafty  foes,  who  are  helpless  and  baffled,  and  have  no 
resort  except  to  abandon  their  charges  and  appeal  to 
His  own  truthfulness  to  destroy  Him. 

He  shows  us  first  the  informal  assembly  before 
Caiaphas,  whither  Annas  sent  Him  with  that  sufficient 
sign  of  his  own  judgment,  the  binding  of  His  hands, 
and  the  first  buffet,  inflicted  by  an  officer,  upon  His 
holy  face.  It  was  not  yet  daylight,  and  a  formal 
assembly  of  the  Sanhedrim  was  impossible.  But  what 
passed  now  was  so  complete  a  rehearsal  of  the  tragedy, 
that  the  regular  meeting  could  be  disposed  of  in  a 
single  verse. 

There  was  confusion  and  distress  among  the  con- 
spirators. It  was  not  their  intention  to  have  arrested 
Jesus  on  the  feast  day,  at  the  risk  of  an  uproar 
among  the  people.  But  He  had  driven  them  to  do  so 
by  the  expulsion  of  their  spy,  who,  if  they  delayed 
longer,  would  be  unable  to  guide  their  officers.  And 
so  they  found  themselves  without  evidence,  and  had 
to  play  the  part  of  prosecutors  when  they  ought  to 
be  impartial  judges.  There  is  something  frightful  in 
the  spectacle  of  these  chiefs  of  the  religion  of  Jehovah 
suborning  perjury  as  the  way  to  murder ;  and  it 
reminds  us  of  the  solemn  truth,  that  no  wickedness  is 


Mark  xlv.  53-65-]  BEFORE    CAIATHAS. 


409 


SO   perfect    and    heartless   as    that   upon  which    sacred 
influences    have   long    been   vainly   operating,    no   cor- 
ruption so  hateful  as  that  of  a  dead  religion.     Presently 
they  would  cause  the  name  of  God  to  be  blasphemed 
among  the  heathen,  by  bribing  the  Roman  guards  to 
lie   about  the    corpse.     And    the    heart  of   Jesus    was 
tried    by     the    disgraceful    spectacle    of    many    false 
witnesses,    found   in  turn   and    paraded   against    Him, 
but  unable  to  agree  upon  any  consistent  charge,  while 
yet  the  shameless  proceedings  were  not  discontinued. 
At  the  last  stood  up  witnesses  to  pervert  what  He  had 
spoken  at  the  first  cleansing  of  the  temple,  which  the 
second  cleansing  had  so  lately  recalled  to  mind.     They 
represented  Him  as  saying,  "  I  am  able  to  destroy  this 
temple    made    with     hands,"— or    perhaps,     ''I     will 
destroy  "  it,  for  their  testimony  varied  on  this  grave 
point—"  and  in  three  days  I  will  build  another  made 
without    hands."     It  was    for    blaspheming    the    Holy 
Place  that  Stephen  died,  and  the  charge  was  a  grave 
one  ;  but  His  words  were  impudently  manipulated  to 
justify  it.     There  had  been  no  proposal  to  substitute 
a  diflerent  temple,  and  no  mention  of  the  temple  made 
with  hands.      Nor  had  Jesus  ever  proposed  to  destroy 
anything.      He    had    spoken    of   their    destroying    the 
Temple  of  His  Body,  and    in    the   use   they  made  of 
the  prediction  they  fulfilled  it. 

As  we  read  of  these  repeated  failures  before  a  tribunal 
so  unjust,  we  are  led  to  suppose  that  opposition  must 
have  sprung  up  to  disconcert  them  ;  we  remember  the 
councilor  of  honourable  estate,  who  had  not  consented 
to  their  counsel  and  deed,  and  we  think.  What  if,  even 
in  that  hour  of  evil,  one  voice  was  uplifted  for  right- 
eousness ?  What  if  Joseph  confessed  Him  in  tlie 
conclave,  like  the  penitent  thief  upon  the  cross  ? 


4IO  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

And   now  the  high  priest,  enraged  and  alarmed  by 
imminent  failure,  rises  in  the  midst,  and  in  the  face  of 
all  law  cross-questions  the  prisoner,  Answerest  Thou 
nothing?      What    is    it  which   these    witness    against 
Thee  ?     But  Jesus  will  not  become  their  accomplice  ; 
He  maintains  the  silence  which  contrasts  so  nobly  with 
their  excitement,    which    at    once    sees    through    their 
schemes   and   leaves   them   to   fall  asunder.     And    the 
urgency  of  the  occasion,  since  hesitation  now  will  give 
the  city  time  to  rise,  drives  them  to  a  desperate  ex- 
pedient.     Without   discussion  of  His  claims,   without 
considering  that  some  day  there  must  be  some  Messiah, 
(else  what  is  their  faith  and  who  are  they  ?)  they  will 
treat   it  as  blasphemous   and  a  capital  offence  simply 
to  claim    that  title.      Caiaphas   adjures   Him  by    their 
common  God  to  answer.  Art  thou  the  Christ,  the  Son 
of  the  Blessed  ?     So  then  they  were  not  utterly  ignor- 
ant  of  the  higher   nature  of  the  Son  of  David  :  they 
remembered   the    words.  Thou  art  My  Son,  this   day 
have   I   begotten   Thee.     But   the   only   use  they  ever 
made  of  their  knowledge  was  to  heighten  to  the  utter- 
most the  Messianic  dignity  which  they  would  make  it 
death  to  claim.     And  the  prisoner  knew  well  the  con- 
sequences   of  replying.      But    He    had  come   into  the 
world  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth,  and  this  was  the 
central  truth  of  all.      "  And  Jesus  said,  I  am."     Now 
Renan    tells    us    that    He    was    the    greatest  religious 
genius    who    ever  lived,    or   probably   ever    shall  live. 
Mill  tells  us  that  religion  cannot  be  said  to  have  made 
a  bad  choice  in  pitching  on  this  Man  as  the  ideal  repre- 
sentative and  guide  of  humanity.     And  Strauss  thinks 
that  we  know  enough  of  Him  to  assert  that  His  con- 
sciousness was  unclouded  by  the  memory  of  any  sin. 
Well  then,  if  anything  in  the  life  of  Jesus  is  beyond 


Mark  xiv.  53-65-]  BEFORE   CAIAPHAS.  411 

controversy,  it  is  this,  that  the  sinless  Man,  our  ideal 
representative  and  guide,  the  greatest  religious  genius 
of  the  race,  died  for  asserting  upon  oath  that  He  was 
the  Son  of  God.  A  good  deal  has  been  said  lately, 
both  wise  and  foolish,  about  Comparative  Religion  :  is 
there  anything  to  compare  with  this  ?  Lunatics,  with 
this  example  before  their  eyes,  have  conceived  wild  and 
dreadlul  infatuations.  But  these  are  the  words  of  Him 
whose  character  has  dominated  nineteen  centuries, 
and  changed  the  history  of  the  world.  And  they  stand 
alone  in  tiie  records  of  mankind. 

As  Jesus  spoke  the  fatal  words,  as  malice  and  hatred 
lighted  the  faces  of  His  wicked  judges  with  a  base  and 
ignoble  joy,  v\^hat  was  His  own  thought?  We  know 
it  by  the  warning  that  He  added.  They  supposed 
themselves  judges  and  irresponsible,  but  there  should 
yet  be  another  tribunal,  Vv'ith  justice  of  a  far  different 
kind,  and  there  they  should  occupy  another  place. 
For  all  that  was  passing  before  His  eyes,  so  false, 
hypocritical  and  murderous,  there  was  no  lasting 
victory,  no  impunity,  no  escape  :  "  Ye  shall  see  the 
Son  of  man  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  power  and 
coming  Vv'ith  the  clouds  of  heaven."  Therefore  His 
apostle  Peter  tells  us  that  in  this  hour,  v/hen  He  was 
reviled  and  reviled  not  again,  "  He  committed  Himself 
to  Him  that  judgeth  righteously"  (i  Peter  ii.  23). 

He  had  now  quoted  that  great  vision  in  which  the 
prophet  Daniel  saw  Him  brought  near  unto  the 
Ancient  of  Days,  and  invested  with  an  everlasting 
dominion  (Dan.  vii.  13,  14.)  But  St.  Matthew  adds  one 
memorable  word.  He  did  not  warn  them,  and  He  was 
not  Himself  sustained,  only  b}^  the  mention  of  a  far-oft 
judgment  :  He  said  they  should  behold  Him  thus 
''  henceforth."     And  that  very  day  they  saw  the  veil  of 


412  GOSPEL   OF  ST.    MARK. 

their  temple  rent,  felt  the  world  convulsed,  and  re- 
membered in  their  terror  that  He  had  foretold  His  own 
death  and  His  resurrection,  against  which  they  had 
still  to  guard.  And  in  the  open  sepulchre,  and  the 
supernatural  vision  told  them  by  its  keepers,  in  great 
and  notable  miracles  wrought  by  the  name  of  Jesus,  in 
the  desertion  of  a  great  multitude  even  of  priests,  and 
their  own  fear  to  be  found  fighting  against  God,  in  all 
this  the  rise  of  that  new  power  was  thenceforth  plainly 
visible,  which  was  presently  to  bury  them  and  their 
children  under  the  ruins  of  their  temple  and  their 
palaces.  But  for  the  moment  the  high-priest  was  only 
relieved ;  and  he  proceeded,  rending  his  clotlies,  to 
announce  his  judgment,  before  consulting  the  court,  who 
had  no  further  need  of  witnesses,  and  were  quite  content 
to  become  formally  the  accusers  before  themselves.  The 
sentence  of  this  irregular  and  informal  court  was  now 
pronounced,  to  fit  them  for  bearing  part,  at  sunrise,  in 
what  should  be  an  unbiassed  trial  ;  and  while  they 
awaited  the  dawn  Jesus  was  abandoned  to  the  brutality 
of  their  servants,  one  of  whom  He  had  healed  that  very 
night.  They  spat  on  the  Lord  of  Glory.  They  covered 
His  face,  an  act  which  was  the  sym.bol  of  a  death  sen- 
tence (Esther  vii.  8),  and  then  they  buffeted  Him,  and 
invited  Him  to  prophesy  who  smote  Him.  iVnd  the 
officers  "  received  Him  "  with  blows. 

V/hat  v>-as  the  meaning  of  this  outburst  of  savage 
cruelty  of  men  whom  Jesus  had  never  wronged,  and 
some  of  whose  friends  must  have  shared  His  super- 
human gifts  of  love  ?  Partly  it  was  the  instinct  of  low 
natures  to  trample  on  the  fallen,  and  partly  the  result 
of  partizanship.  For  these  servants  of  the  priests  must 
have  seen  many  evidences  of  the  hate  and  dread  with 
which   their   masters  regarded  Jesus.      But  there  was 


Mark  xiv.  66-72.]        THE   FALL    OF  PETER.  413 

doubtless  another  motive.  Not  without  fear,  we  may 
be  certain,  had  they  gone  forth  to  arrest  at  midnight  the 
Personage  of  whom  so  many  miraculous  tales  were 
universally  believed.  They  must  have  remembered 
the  captains  of  fifty  whom  Elijah  consumed  with  fire. 
And  in  fact  there  was  a  moment  wdien  they  all  fell 
prostrate  before  His  majestic  presence.  But  now  their 
terror  was  at  an  end  :  He  was  helpless  in  their  hands ; 
and  they  revenged  their  fears  upon  the  Author  of  them. 
Thus  Jesus  suffered  shame  to  make  us  partakers  of 
His  glory  ;  and  the  veil  of  death  covered  His  head, 
that  He  might  destroy  the  face  of  the  covering  cast 
over  all  peoples,  and  the  veil  that  was  spread  over  all 
nations.  And  even  in  this  moment  of  bitterest  outrage 
He  remembered  and  rescued  a  soul  in  the  extreme  of 
jeopardy,  for  it  was  now  that  the  Lord  turned  and 
looked  upon  Peter, 

THE  FALL   OF  PETER. 

"And  as  Peter  was  beneath  in  the  court,  there  cometh  one  of  the 
maids  of  the  high  prie=t  ;  and  seeing  Peter  warming  himself,  she  looked 
upon  him,  and  saith,  Thou  also  wast  with  the  Nazarene,  even  Jesus. 
But  he  denied,  saying,  I  neitlier  know,  nor  understand  what  thou 
sayest  :  and  he  went  out  into  the  porch  ;  and  the  cock  crew.  And  the 
maid  saw  him,  and  began  again  to  say  to  them  that  stood  by,  This  is 
<7«eofthem.  Bat  he  again  denied  it.  And  after  a  little  while  again 
they  that  stood  by  said  to  Peter,  Of  a  truth  thou  art  one  of  them  ;  for 
thou  art  a  Galik-ean.  But  he  began  to  curse,  and  to  swear,  I  know  not 
this  man  of  whom  ye  speak.  And  straightway  the  second  time  the 
cock  crew.  And  Peter  called  to  mind  the  word,  how  that  Jesus  said 
unto  him.  Before  the  cock  crow  twice,  thou  shaltdeny  Me  thrice.  And 
when  he  tliought  thereon,  he  wept '" — Mark  xiv.  66-72  (R.V.). 

The  fall  of  Peter  has  called  forth  the  easy  scorn  of 
multitudes  who  never  ran  any  risk  for  Christ.  But  if 
he  had   been   a   coward,   and    his    denial    a    dastardly 


414  GOSPEL    OF  ST..  MARK. 

weakness,  it  would  not  be  a  warning  for  the  whole 
Church,  but  only  for  feeble  natures.  Whereas  the 
lesson  which  it  proclaims  is  this  deep  and  solemn  one, 
that  no  natural  endowments  can  bear  the  strain  of  the 
spiritual  life.  Peter  had  dared  to  smite  when  only  two 
swords  were  forthcoming  against  the  band  of  Roniaii 
soldiers  and  the  multitude  from  the  chief  priests.  After 
the  panic  in  which  all  forsook  Jesus,  and  so  fulfilled 
the  prediction  "ye  shall  leave  Me  alone,"  none  ventured 
so  far  as  Peter.  John  indeed  accompanied  him  ;  but 
John  ran  little  risk,  he  had  influence  and  was  therefore 
left  unassailed,  whereas  Peter  was  friendless  and  a 
mark  for  all  men,  and  had  made  himself  conspicuous 
in  the  garden.  Of  those  who  declaim  about  his  want 
of  courage  few  indeed  would  have  dared  so  much. 
And  whoever  misunderstands  him,  Jesus  did  not.  He 
said  to  him,  "  Satan  hath  desired  to  have  you  (all)  that 
he  may  sift  you  like  wheat,  but  I  have  prayed  for  thee 
(especiall}')  that  thy  strength  fail  not."  Around  him 
the  fiercest  of  the  struggle  was  to  rage,  as  around  some 
point  of  vantage  on  a  battlefield  ;  and  it  was  he,  when 
once  he  had  turned  again,  who  should  stablish  his 
brethren  (Luke  xxii.  31,  32). 

God  forbid  that  we  should  speak  one  light  or  scornful 
word  of  this  great  apostle  !  God  grant  us,  if  our  foot- 
steps slip,  the  heart  to  weep  such  tears  as  his. 

Peter  was  a  loving,  brave  and  loyal  man.  But  the 
circumstances  were  not  such  as  human  bravery  could 
deal  with.  Resistance,  which  would  have  kindled  his 
spirit,  had  been  forbidden  to  him,  and  was  now  im- 
possible. The  public  was  shut  out,  and  he  was  practi- 
cally alone  among  his  enemies.  He  had  come  "to  see 
the  end,"  and  it  was  a  miserable  sight  that  he  beheld. 
Jesus   was    passive,  silent,    insulted :    His    foes   fierce, 


Mark  xiv.  66-72.]       THE   FALL    OF  PETER.  415 

unscrupulous  and  confident.  And  Peter  was  more 
and  more  conscious  of  being  alone,  in  peril,  and  utterly 
without  resource.  Moreover  sleeplessness  and  niisery 
lead  to  physical  languor  and  cold,*  and  as  the  officers 
had  kindled  a  fire,  he  was  drawn  thither,  like  a  moth, 
by  the  double  wish  to  avoid  isolation  and  to  warm 
himself.  In  thus  seeking  to  pass  for  one  of  the  crowd, 
he  showed  himself  ashamed  of  Jesus,  and  incurred  the 
menaced  penalty,  "  of  him  shall  the  Son  of  man  be 
ashamed,  when  He  cometh."  And  the  method  of  self- 
concealment  which  he  adopted  only  showed  his  face, 
strongly  illuminated,  as  St.  IMark  tells  us,  by  the  flame. 
If  now  we  ask  for  the  secret  of  his  failing  resolution, 
we  can  trace  the  disease  far  back.  It  was  self-confi- 
dence. He  reckoned  himself  the  one  to  walk  upon  the 
waters.  He  could  not  be  silent  on  the  holy  mount, 
when  Jesus  held  high  communion  with  the  inhabitants 
of  heaven.  He  rebuked  the  Lord  for  dark  forebodings. 
When  Jesus  would  wash  his  feet,  although  expressly 
told  that  he  should  understand  the  act  hereafter,  he 
rejoined.  Thou  shalt  never  wash  my  feet,  and  was 
only  sobered  by  the  peremptory  announcement  that 
further  rebellion  would  involve  rejection.  He  was  sure 
that  if  all  the  rest  were  to  deny  Jesus,  he  never  should 
deny  Him.  In  the  garden  he  slept,  because  he  failed 
to  pray  and  watch.  And  then  he  did  not  wait  to  be 
directed,  but  strove  to  fight  the  battle  of  Jesus  with  the 
weapons  of  the  flesh.  Therefore  he  forsook  Him  and 
fled.  And  the  consequences  of  that  hasty  blow  were 
heavy  upon  him  now.  It  marked  him  for  the  atten- 
tion of  the  servants  :  it  drove  him  to  merge  himseli 
in  the  crowd.       But  his  bearing  was  too  suspicious  to 

*    "By  the  fire  the  children  sit 
Cold  in  that  atmosphere  of  death." — In  Memoriam,  xx. 


4t6  GOSPEL   OF  ST.   MARK. 

enable  him  to  escape  unquestioned.  The  first  assault 
came  very  naturally,  from  the  maid  who  kept  the  door, 
and  had  therefore  seen  him  with  John.  He  denied 
indeed,  but  with  hesitation,  not  so  much  affirming  that 
the  charge  was  false  as  that  he  could  not  understand  it. 
And  thereupon  he  changed  his  place,  either  to  escape 
notice  or  through  mental  disquietude  ;  but  as  he  went 
into  the  porch  the  cock  crew.  The  girl  however  was 
not  to  be  shaken  off:  she  pointed  him  out  to  others, 
and  since  he  had  forsaken  the  only  solid  ground,  he 
now  denied  the  charge  angrily  and  roundly.  An  hour 
passed,  such  an  hour  of  shame,  perplexity  and  guilt,  as 
he  had  never  known,  and  then  there  came  a  still  more 
dangerous  attack.  They  had  detected  his  Galilean 
accent,  while  he  strove  to  pass  for  one  of  them.  And 
a  kinsman  of  Malchus  used  words  as  threatening  as 
Avere  possible  without  enabling  a  miracle  to  be  proved, 
since  the  wound  had  vanished  :  "Did  I  myself  not  see 
thee  in  the  garden  with  Him  ?  "  Whereupon,  to  prove 
that  his  speech  had  nothing  to  do  with  Jesus,  he  began 
to  curse  and  swear,  saying,  I  know  not  the  man.  And 
the  cock  crew  a  second  time,  and  Peter  remembered 
the  warning  of  his  Lord,  which  then  sounded  so  harsh, 
but  now  proved  to  be  the  means  of  his  salvation.  And 
the  eyes  of  his  Master,  full  of  sorrow  and  resolution, 
fell  on  him.  And  he  knew  that  he  had  added  a  bitter 
pang  to  the  sufferings  of  the  Blessed  One.  And  the 
crowd  and  his  own  danger  were  forgotten,  and  he  went 
out  and  wept. 

It  w-as  for  Judas  to  strive  desperately  to  put  himself 
right  with  man  :  the  sorrow  of  Peter  was  for  himself 
and  God  to  know. 

What  lessons  are  we  taught  by  this  most  natural  and 
humbling  story  ?     That  he  who  thinketh  he  standeth 


Mark  xiv.  66-72.]       THE   FALL    OF  PETER.  417 

must  take  heed  lest  he  fall  That  we  are  in  most  daD::;er 
when  self-confident,  and  only  strong  when  we  are  wecik. 
That  the  beginning  of  sin  is  like  the  letting  out  of 
water.  That  Jesus  does  not  give  us  up  when  we  cast 
ourselves  away,  but  as  long  as  a  pulse  of  love  survives, 
or  a  spark  of  loyalt}^,  He  will  appeal  to  that  by  many  a 
subtle  suggestion  of  memory  and  of  providence,  to  re- 
call His  wanderer  to  Flimself. 

And  surely  we  learn  by  the  fall  of  this  great  and 
good  apostle  to  restoi"e  the  fallen  in  the  spirit  of  meek- 
ness, considering  ourselves  lest  we  also  be  tempted,  re- 
membering also  that  to  Peter,  Jesus  sent  the  first  tidings 
of  His  resurrection,  and  that  the  message  found  him 
in  company  with  John,  and  therefore  in  the  house  with 
Mary.  What  might  have  been  the  issue  of  his  an- 
guish if  these  holy  ones  had  cast  Him  off? 


CHAPTER    XV. 

PILA  TE. 

"And  straightway  in  the  morning  the  chief  priests  with  the  elders  and 
scribes,  and  the  whole  council,  held  a  consultation,  and  bound  Jesus, 
and  carried  Him  away,  and  delivered  Him  up  to  Pilate." 

"...  And  they  lead  Him  out  to  crucify  Him." — Mark  xv.  I-20 
(R.V.). 

WITH  morning  came  the  formal  assembly,  which 
St.  Mark  dismisses  in  a  single  verse.  It  was 
indeed  a  disgraceful  mockery.  Before  the  trial  began 
its  meinbers  had  prejudged  the  case,  passed  sentence 
by  anticipation,  and  abandoned  Jesus,  as  one  condemned, 
to  the  brutality  of  their  servants.  And  now  the  spec- 
tacle of  a  prisoner  outraged  and  maltreated  moves  no 
indignation  in  their  hearts. 

Let  us,  for  whom  His  sufferings  were  endured,  reflect 
upon  the  strain  and  anguish  of  all  these  repeated  ex- 
aminations, these  foregone  conclusions  gravely  adopted 
in  the  name  of  justice,  these  exhibitions  of  greed  for 
blood.  Among  the  "  unknown  sufferings "  by  which 
the  Eastern  Church  invokes  her  Lord,  surely  not  the 
least  was  His  outraged  moral  sense. 

As  the  issue  of  it  all,  they  led  Him  away  to  Pilate, 
meaning,  by  the  weight  of  such  an  accusing  array,  to 
overpower  any  possible  scruples  of  the  governoi-,  but  in 
fact  fulfilling  His  words,  "  they  shall  deliver  Him  unto 
the  Gentiles."  And  the  first  question  recorded  by  St. 
Mark  expresses  the  intense  surprise  of  Pilate.    "  Thou," 


Mavkxv.  I-20.]  PILATE.  4^9 

SO  meek,  so  unlike  the  numberless   conspirators  tliat   I 
have  tried, — or  perhaps,  "Thou,"  Whom  no  sympathis- 
ing multitude  sustains,  and  for  Whose  death  the  disloyal 
priesthood  thirsts,  "  Art  Tlion  the  King  of  the  Jews  ?  " 
We  know  howcarefully  Jesus  disentangled  His  claim  from 
the  political  associations  which  the  high  priests  intended 
that   it   should   suggest,  how  the    King  of  Truth  would 
not  exaggerate  any  more  than  understate  the  case,  and 
explained  that  His  kingdom  was  not  of  this  world,  that 
His  servants  did  not  fight,  that  His  royal  function  was 
to  uphold  the  truth,  not  to  expel  conquerors.     The  eyes 
of  a  practised  Roman  governor  saw  through  the  accusa- 
tion very  clearly.      Before  him,  Jesus   was   accused  of 
sedition,  but  that  was  a  transparent  pretext ;  Jews  did 
not  hate   Him   for   enmity  to   Rome  :   He  was   a   rival 
teacher  and  a   successful  one,  and  for  envy   they  had 
delivered   Him.     So   far  all  was   well.      Pilate  investi- 
gated the  charge,  arrived  at  the  correct  judgment,  and 
it  only  remained   that   he   should  release   the  innocent 
man.      In  reaching  this  conclusion  Jesus  had  given  him 
the   most  prudent   and  skilful  help,  but  as  soon  as  the 
facts   became  clear,   He   resumed    His  impressive  and 
mysterious  silence.     Thus,  before  each  of  his  judges  in 
turn,  Jesus  avowed  Himself  the  Messiah  and  then  held 
His  peace.     It  was  an  awful  silence,  which  would  not 
give  that  which  was  holy  to  the  dogs,  nor   profane   the 
truth  by  unavailing  protests  or  controversies.      It  was, 
however,  a  silence   only  possible  to   an   exalted  nature 
full   of  self-control,'  since   the    words    actually    spoken 
redeem    it   from   any  suspicion   or   stain   of  suUenness. 
It   is   the   conscience  of  Pilate  which   must   henceforth 
speak.     The  Romans  were  the  lawgivers  of  the  ancient 
world,  and  a  few  years  earlier  their  greatest  pcet  had 
boasted    that  their  mission  was  to  spare  the  helpless 


420  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

and  to  crush  the  proud.  In  no  man  was  an  act  of 
dehberate  injustice,  of  complaisance  to  the  powerful  at 
the  cost  of  the  good,  more  unpardonable  than  in  a 
leader  of  that  splendid  race,  whose  laws  are  still  the 
favourite  study  of  those  who  frame  and  administer  our 
own.  And  the  conscience  of  Pilate  struggled  hard, 
aided  by  superstitious  fear.  The  very  silence  of  Jesus 
amid  many  charges,  by  none  of  which  His  accusers 
would  stand  or  fall,  excited  the  wonder  of  His  judge. 
His  wife's  dream  aided  the  effect.  And  he  was  still 
more  afraid  when  he  heard  that  this  strange  and  elevated 
Personage,  so  unlike  any  other  prisoner  whom  he  had 
ever  tried,  laid  claim  to  be  Divine.  Thus  even  in  his 
desire  to  save  Jesus,  his  motive  was  not  pure,  it  was 
rather  an  instinct  of  self-preservation  than  a  sense  of 
justice.  But  there  was  danger  on  the  other  side  as 
well  ;  since  he  had  already  incurred  the  imperial  cen- 
sure, he  could  not  without  grave  apprehensions  contem- 
plate a  fresh  complaint,  and  would  certainl}'  be  ruined 
if  he  were  accused  of  releasing  a  conspirator  against 
Caesar.  And  accordingly  he  stooped  to  mean  and 
crooked  ways,  he  lost  hold  of  the  only  clue  in  the  per- 
plexing lab3-rinth  of  expediencies,  which  is  principle, 
and  his  name  in  the  creed  of  Christendom  is  spoken 
with  a  shudder — "  crucified  inider  Pontius  Pilate  !  " 

It  was  the  time  for  him  to  release  a  prisoner  to  them, 
according  to  an  obscure  custom,  which  some  suppose 
to  have  sprung  from  the  release  of  one  of  the  two 
sacrificial  goats,  and  others  from  the  fact  that  they  now 
celebrated  their  own  deliverance  from  Egypt.  At 
this  moment  the  people  began  to  demand  their  usual 
indulgence,  and  an  evil  hope  arose  in  the  heart  ci 
Pilate.  They  would  surely  welcome  One  who  was  in 
danger  as  a  patriot :  he  would  himself  inake  the  offer  ; 


Mark  XV.  1-20.]  PILATE.  421 

and  he  would  put  it  in  this  tempting  form,  "  WiU  ye 
that  I  release  unto  3'ou  the  King  of  the  Jews  ?  "  Thus 
would  the  enmity  of  the  priests  be  gratified,  since 
Jesus  v/ould  henceforth  be  a  condemned  culprit,  and 
owe  His  life  to  their  intercession  with  the  foreigner. 
But  the  proposal  was  a  surrender.  The  life  of  Jesus 
had  not  been  forfeited ;  and  when  it  was  placed  at 
their  discretion,  it  was  already  lawlessly  taken  away. 
Moreover,  when  the  offer  was  rejected,  Jesus  was  in 
the  place  of  a  culprit  who  should  not  be  released.  To 
the  priests,  nevertheless,  it  was  a  dangerous  proposal, 
and  they  needed  to  stir  up  the  people,  or  perhaps 
Barabbas  would  not  have  been  preferred. 

Instigated  by  their  natural  guides,  their  religious 
teachers,  the  Jews  made  the  tremendous  choice,  which 
has  ever  since  been  heavy  on  their  heads  and  on  their 
children's.  Yet  if  ever  an  error  could  be  excused  by 
the  plea  of  authority,  and  the  duty  of  submission  to 
constituted  leaders,  it  was  this  error.  They  followed 
men  who  sat  in  Moses'  seat,  and  who  were  thus  entitled, 
according  to  Jesus  Himself,  to  be  obeyed.  Yet  that 
authority  has  not  relieved  the  Hebrew  nation  from  the 
wrath  which  came  upon  them  to  the  uttermost.  The 
salvation  they  desired  was  not  moral  elevation  or 
spiritual  life,  and  so  Jesus  had  nothing  to  bestow  upon 
them  ;  they  refused  the  Holy  One  and  the  Just.  What 
they  wanted  was  the  world,  the  place  which  Rome  held, 
and  which  they  fondly  hoped  was  yet  to  be  their  own. 
Even  to  have  failed  in  the  pursuit  of  this  was  better 
than  to  have  the  words  of  everlasting  life,  and  so  the 
name  of  Barabbas  was  enough  to  secure  the  rejection 
of  Christ.  It  would  almost  seem  that  Pilate  was  ready 
to  release  both,  if  that  would  satisfy  them,  for  he  asks, 
ui   hesitation  and   perplexity',   "  What  shall  I  do  then 


422  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

with  Him  Whom  ye  call  the  King  of  the  Jews  ?  "  Surely 
in  their  excitement  for  an  insurgent,  that  title,  given 
by  themselves,  will  awake  their  pity.  But  again  and 
again,  like  the  howl  of  wolves,  resounds  their  ferocious 
cry,  Crucify  Him,  crucify  Him. 

The  irony  of  Providence  is  known  to  every  student 
of  history,  but  it  never  was  so  manifest  as  here.  Under 
the  pressure  of  circumstances  upon  men  whom  principle 
has  not  made  firm,  we  find  a  Roman  governor  striving  to 
kindle  every  disloyal  passion  of  his  subjects,  on  behalf 
of  the  King  of  the  Jews, — appealing  to  men  whom  he 
hated  and  despised,  and  whose  charges  have  proved 
empty  as  chaft",  to  say,  What  evil  has  He  done  ?  and 
even  to  tell  him,  on  his  judgment  throne,  what  he  shall 
do  with  their  King;  we  find  the  men  who  accused  Jesus 
of  stirring  up  the  people  to  sedition,  now  shamelessly 
agitating  for  the  release  of  a  red-handed  insurgent  ; 
forced  moreover  to  accept  the  responsibility  which  they 
would  fain  have  devolved  on  Pilate,  and  themselves  to 
pronounce  the  hateful  sentence  of  crucifixion,  unknown 
to  their  law,  but  for  which  they  had  secretly  intrigued  ; 
and  we  find  the  multitude  fiercely  clamouring  for  a 
defeated  champion  of  brute  force,  whose  weapon  has 
snapped  in  his  hands,  who  has  led  his  followers  to 
the  cross,  and  from  whom  there  is  no  more  to  hope. 
What  satire  upon  their  hope  of  a  temporal  Messiah 
could  be  more  bitter  than  their  own  cry,  ''  We  have  no 
king  but  Caesar  "  ?  And  what  satire  upon  this  profession 
more  destructive  than  their  choice  of  Barabbas  and 
refusal  of  Christ?  And  all  the  while,  Jesus  looks  on 
in  silence,  carr3dng  out  His  mournful  but  effectual  plan, 
the  true  Master  of  the  movements  which  design  to 
crush  Him,  and  which  He  has  foretold.  As  He  ever 
receives  gifts  for  the  rebellious,  and  is  the  Saviour  of 


Mark  XV.  I-20.]  PILATE.  423 

all  men,  though  especially  of  them  that  believe,  so  now 
His  passion,  which  retrieved  the  erring  soul  of  Peter, 
and  won  the  penitent  thief,  rescues  Barabbas  from  the 
cross.      His  suffering  was  made  visibly  vicarious. 

One  is  tempted  to  pity  the  feeble  judge,  the  only 
person  who  is  known  to  have  attempted  to  rescue  Jesus, 
beset  by  his  old  faults,  which  will  make  an  impeachment 
fatal,  wishing  better  than  he  dares  to  act,  hesitating, 
sinking  inch  by  mch,  and  like  a  bird  with  broken  wing. 
No  accomplice  in  this  frightful  crime  is  so  suggestive 
of  warning  to  hearts  not  entirely  hardened. 

But  pity  is  lost  in  sterner  emotion  as  we  remember 
that  this  wicked  governor,  having  borne  witness  to  the 
perfect  innocence  of  Jesus,  was  content,  in  order  to 
save  himself  from  danger,  to  watch  the  Blessed  One 
enduring  all  the  horrors  of  a  Roman  scourging,  and 
then  to  yield  Him  up  to  die. 

It  is  now  the  unmitigated  cruelty  of  ancient  pagan- 
ism which  has  closed  its  hand  upon  our  Lord.  When 
the  soldiers  led  Him  away  within  the  court,  He  was 
lost  to  His  nation,  which  had  renounced  Him.  It  is 
upon  this  utter  alienation,  even  more  than  the  locality 
where  the  cross  was  fixed,  that  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  turns  our  attention,  when  it  reminds  us  that 
"  the  bodies  of  those  beasts  whose  blood  is  brought 
into  the  holy  place  by  the  high  priest  as  an  offering  for 
sin,  are  burned  without  the  camp.  Wherefore  Jesus 
also,  that  He  might  sanctify  the  people  through  His 
own  blood,  suffered  without  the  gate."  The  physical 
exclusion,  the  material  parallel  points  to  something 
deeper,  for  the  inference  is  that  of  estrangement. 
Those  who  serve  the  tabernacle  cannot  eat  of  our  altar. 
Let  us  go  forth  unto  Llim,  bearing  His  reproach. 
(Heb.  xii.    10-13). 


424  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

Renounced  by  Israel,  and  about  to  become  a  curse 
under  the  law,  He  has  now  to  suffer  the  cruelty  of 
wantonness,  as  He  has  already  endured  the  cruelty  of 
hatred  and  fear.  Now,  more  than  ever  perhapjs,  He 
looks  for  pity  and  there  is  no  man.  None  responded 
to  the  deep  appeal  of  the  eyes  which  had  never  seen 
misery  without  relieving  it.  The  contempt  of  the 
strong  for  the  weak  and  suffering,  of  coarse  natures  for 
sensitive  ones,  of  Romans  for  Jews,  all  these  were 
blended  with  bitter  scorn  of  the  Jewish  expectation  that 
some  day  Rome  shall  bow  before  a  Hebrew  conqueror, 
in  the  mockery  which  Jesus  now  underwent,  when  they 
clad  Him  in  such  cast-off  purple  as  the  Palace  yielded, 
thrust  a  reed  into  His  pinioned  hand,  crowned  Him 
Vv'ith  thorns,  beat  these  into  His  holy  head  with  the 
sceptre  they  had  offered  Him,  and  then  proceeded  to 
render  the  homage  of  their  nation  to  the  Messiah  of 
Jewish  hopes.  It  may  have  been  this  mockery  which 
suggested  to  Pilate  the  inscription  for  the  cross.  But 
where  is  the  mocker}^  now  ?  In  crowning  Him  King 
of  sufferings,  and  Royal  among  those  who  weep,  they 
secured  to  Him  the  adherence  of  all  hearts.  Christ 
was  made  perfect  by  the  things  which  He  suffered  ; 
and  it  was  not  only  in  spite  of  insult  and  anguish  but 
by  means  of  them  that  He  drew  all  men  unto  Him. 

CHRIST     CRUCIFIED. 

"And  they  compel  one  passing  by,  Simon  of  Cyiene,  coming  from 
tlie  country,  the  fatlier  of  Alexander  and  Rufus,  to  go  loith  ilieiii,  that 
he  might  bear  His  cross.  And  they  bring  Him  unto  the  place  Golgotha, 
which  is,  being  interpreted.  The  place  of  a  skull.  And  tliey  offered 
Him  wine  mingled  with  myrrh  :  but  He  received  it  not.  And  they 
crucify  Him,  and  part  His  garments  among  them,  casting  lots  upon 
them,  what  each  should  take.  And  it  was  the  third  hour,  and  they 
cruciticd  Him.     And  the  superscription  of  His  accusation  was  written 


Mark  XV.  21-32.]  CHRIST  CRUCIFIED.  425 

over,  THE  KING  OF  THE  JEWS.  And  with  Him  they  cruciTy  two 
robbers;  one  on  His  right  hand,  and  one  ou  His  left.  And  they  that 
jiassed  by  railed  on  Him,  wagging  their  heads,  and  saying,  Ha!  Thou 
that  destroyest  the  temple,  and  buildest  it  in  three  days,  save  Thyself, 
and  come  down  from  the  cross.  In  like  manner  also  the  chief  priests 
mocking  Him  among  themselves  with  the  scribes  said,  He  saved  others  ; 
Himself  He  cannot  save.  Let  the  Christ,  the  King  of  Israel,  now 
come  down  from  the  cross,  that  we  may  see  and  believe.  And 
they  that  were  crucilied  with  Him  reproached  Him."— Mark  xv.  21-32 
(R.V.). 

At  last  the  preparations  were  complete  and  the  interval 
of  mental  agony  was  over.  They  led  Him  away  to 
crucify  Him.  And  upon  the  road  an  event  of  mournful 
interest  took  place.  It  was  the  custom  to  lay  the  two 
arms  of  the  cross  upon  the  doomed  man,  fastening 
them  together  at  such  an  angle  as  to  pass  behind  His 
neck,  while  his  hands  were  bound  to  the  ends  in  front. 
And  thus  it  was  that  Jesus  went  forth  bearing  His 
cross.  Did  He  think  of  this  when  He  bade  us  take 
His  yoke  upon  us  ?  Did  He  wait  for  events  to  explain 
the  words,  by  making  it  visibly  one  and  the  same  to 
take  His  yoke  and  to  take  up  our  cross  and  follow 
Him  ? 

On  the  road,  however,  they  forced  a  reluctant  stranger 
to  go  with  them  that  he  might  bear  the  cross.  The 
traditional  reason  is  that  our  Redeemer's  strength  gave 
way,  and  it  became  physically  impossible  for  Him  to 
proceed  ;  but  this  is  challenged  upon  the  ground  that 
to  fail  would  have  been  unworthy  of  our  Lord,  and 
would  mar  the  perfection  of  His  example.  How  so, 
when  the  failure  was  a  real  one  ?  Is  there  no  fitness 
in  the  belief  that  He  who  was  tempted  in  all  points  like 
as  we  are,  endured  this  hardness  also,  of  struggling 
with  the  impossible  demands  of  human  cruelty,  the 
spirit  indeed  willing  but  tlie  fltrsh  weak  ?  It  is  not 
easy  to  believe   that   any   other  reason   than  manifest 


426  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

inability,  would  have  induced  his  persecutors  to  spare 
Him  one  drop  of  bitterness,  one  throb  of  pain.  The 
noblest  and  most  delicately  balanced  frame,  like  all 
other  exquisite  machines,  is  not  capable  of  the  rudest 
strain  ;  and  we  know  that  Jesus  had  once  sat  wearied 
by  the  well,  while  the  hardy  fishers  went  into  the  town, 
and  returned  with  bread.  And  this  night  our  gentle 
Master  had  endured  what  no  common  victim  knew. 
Long  before  the  scourging,  or  even  the  buffeting  began, 
His  spiritual  exhaustion  had  needed  that  an  angel  from 
heaven  should  strengthen  Him.  Aiid  the  utmost  pos- 
sibility of  exertion  was  now  reached  :  the  spot  where 
they  met  Simon  of  C3'rene  marks  this  melancholy  limit; 
and  suffering  henceforth  must  be  purel}'  passive. 

We  cannot  assert  with  confidence  that  Simon  and 
his  family  were  saved  by  this  event.  The  coercion  put 
upon  him,  the  fact  that  he  was  seized  and  "impressed" 
into  the  service,  already  seems  to  indicate  sympathy  with 
Jesus.  And  we  are  fain  to  believe  that  he  who  received 
the  honour,  so  strange  and  sad  and  sacred,  the  unique 
privilege  of  lifting  some  little  of  the  crushing  burden 
of  the  Saviour,  Vv'as  not  utterly  ignorant  of  what  he  did. 
We  knew  at  least  that  the  names  of  his  children, 
Alexander  and  Rufus,  were  familiar  in  the  Church  for 
which  St.  Mark  was  writing,  and  that  in  Rome  a 
Rufus  was  chosen  in  the  Lord,  and  his  mother  was 
like  a  m.other  to  St.  Paul  (Rom.  xvi.  13).  With  what 
feelings  may  they  have  recalled  the  story,  "  him  they 
compelled  to  bear  His  cross." 

They  led  Him  to  a  place  where  the  rounded  summit 
of  a  knoll  had  its  grim  name  from  some  resemblance  to 
a  human  skull,  and  prepared  the  crosses  there. 

It  was  the  custom  of  the  daughters  of  Jei'usalem, 
who  lamented  Him  as  He  went,  to  provide  a  stupef3ing 


Mark  XV.  21-32.]  CHRIST  CRUCIFIED.  427 

draiigiit  for  the  surlerers  of  this  atrocious  cruelty. 
"And  they  offered  Him  wine  mixed  with  myrrh,  but 
He  received  it  not/'  although  that  dreadful  thirst,  which 
was  part  of  the  suffering  of  crucifixion,  had  already 
begun,  for  He  only  refused  when  Pie  had  tasted  it. 

In  so  doing  He  rebuked  all  who  seek  to  drown 
sorrows  or  benumb  the  soul  in  wine,  all  who  degrade 
and  dull  their  sensibilities  by  physical  excess  or  in- 
dulgence, all  who  would  rather  blind  their  intelligence 
than  pay  the  sharp  cost  of  its  exercise.  He  did  not 
condemn  the  use  of  anod3mes,  but  the  abuse  of  them. 
It  is  one  thing  to  suspend  the  senses  during  an  ope- 
ration, and  quite  another  thing  by  one's  own  choice 
to  pass  into  eternity  without  consciousness  enough  to 
commit  the  soul  into  its   Father's  hands. 

"And  they  crucify  Him."  Let  the  words  remain 
as  the  Evangelist  left  them,  to  tell  their  own  story  of 
human  sin,  and  of  Divine  love  which  many  waters  could 
not  quench,  neither  could  the  depths  drown  it. 

Only  let  us  think  in  silence  of  all  that  those  words 
convey. 

In  the  first  sharpness  of  mortal  anguish,  Jesus  saw 
His  executioners  sit  down  at  ease,  all  unconscious 
of  the  dread  meaning  of  what  was  passing  by  their 
side,  to  part  His  garments  among  them,  and  cast  lots 
for  the  raiment  which  they  had  stripped  from  His  sacred 
form.  The  Gospels  are  content  thus  to  abandon  those 
relics  about  which  so  many  legends  have  been  woven. 
But  indeed  all  through  these  four  wonderful  narratives 
the  self-restraint  is  perfect.  When  the  Epistles  touch 
upon  the  subject  of  the  crucifixion  they  kindle  into 
flame.  When  St.  Peter  soon  afterwards  referred  to  it, 
his  indignation  is  beyond  question,  and  Stephen  called 
the  rulers    betrayers   and   murderers   (Acts  ii.   23,   24 ; 


42S  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARK. 

iii.  13,  14;  vii.  51-53)  but  not  one  single  syllable  of 
complaint  or  comment  mingles  with  the  clear  flow  of 
narrative  in  the  four  Gospels.  The  truth  is  that  the 
subject  was  too  great,  too  fresh  and  vivid  in  their  minds, 
to  be  adorned  or  enlarged  upon.  What  comment  of 
St.  Mark,  what  mortal  comment,  could  add  to  the  weight 
of  the  words  "  they  crucif)^  Him  "  ?  Men  use  no  figures 
of  speech  when  telling  how  their  own  beloved  one  died. 
But  it  was  differently  that  the  next  age  wrote  about 
the  crucifixion  ;  and  perhaps  the  lofty  self-restraint  of 
the  Evangelists  has  never  been  attained  again. 

St.  Mark  tells  us  that  He  was  crucified  at  the  third 
hour,  whereas  we  read  in  St.  John  that  it  was  "  about 
the  sixth  hour"  when  Pilate  ascended  the  seat  of 
judgment  (xix.  14).  It  seems  likely  that  St.  John  used 
the  Roman  reckoning,  and  his  computation  does  not 
pretend  to  be  exact  ;  while  we  must  remember  that 
mental  agitation  conspired  with  the  darkening  of  the 
sky,  to  render  such  an  estimate  as  he  offers  even  more 
than  usuall}'  vague. 

It  has  been  supposed  that  St.  Mark's  "third  hour" 
goes  back  to  the  scourging,  which,  as  being  a  regular 
part  of  Roman  crucifixion,  he  includes,  although  in- 
flicted in  this  case  before  the  sentence.  But  it  will 
pro^■e  quite  as  hard  to  reconcile  this  distribution  of  time 
with  "the  sixth  hour"  in  St.  John,  while  it  is  at  variance 
with  the  context  in  which  St.  Mark  asserts  it. 

The  small  and  bitter  heart  of  Pilate  keenly  resented 
his  defeat  and  the  victory  of  the  priests.  Perhaps  it 
was  when  his  soldiers  offered  the  scornful  homage  of 
Rome  to  Israel  and  her  monarch,  that  he  saw  the  way 
to  a  petty  revenge.  And  all  Jerusalem  was  scandalized 
by  reading  the  inscription  over  a  crucified  malefactor's 
head,  The  King  of  the  Jews. 


Mark  XV.  21-32.]  CHRIST  CRUCIFIED.  429 

It  needs  some  reflection  to  perceive  how  sharp  the 
taunt  was.  A  few  years  ago  they  had  a  king,  but 
the  sceptre  had  departed  from  Judah ;  Rome  had 
aboHshed  him.  It  was  their  hope  that  soon  a  native 
king  would  for  ever  sweep  away  the  foreigner  from 
their  fields.  But  here  the  Roman  exhibited  the  fate  of 
such  a  claim,  and  professed  to  inflict  its  horrors  not 
upon  one  whom  they  disavowed,  but  upon  their  king 
indeed.  We  know  how  angrily  and  vainly  they  pro- 
tested ;  and  again  we  seem  to  recognise  the  solemn 
irony  of  Providence.  For  this  was  their  true  King, 
and  they,  who  resented  the  superscription,  had  fixed 
their  Anointed  there. 

All  the  more  they  would  disconnect  themselves  from 
Him,  and  wreak  their  passion  upon  the  helpless  One 
whom  they  hated.  The  populace  mocked  Him  openly: 
the  chief  priests,  too  cultivated  to  insult  avowedly  a 
dying  man,  mocked  Him  "among  themselves,"  speaking 
bitter  words  for  Him  to  hear.  The  multitude  repeated 
the  false  charge  which  had  probably  done  much  to 
inspire  their  sudden  preference  for  Barabbas,  "  Thou 
that  destroyest  the  temple  and  bulkiest  it  again  in  three 
days,  save  Thyself  and  come  down  from  the  cross." 

They  little  suspected  that  they  were  recalling  words 
t)f  consolation  to  His  memory,  reminding  Him  that  all 
this  suffering  was  foreseen,  and  how  it  was  all  to  end. 
The  chief  priests  spoke  also  a  truth  full  of  consolation, 
"He  saved  others.  Himself  He  cannot  save,"  although 
it  was  no  physical  bar  which  forbade  Him  to  accept 
their  challenge.  And  when  they  flung  at  Him  His 
favourite  demand  for  faith,  saying  "Let  the  Christ,  the 
King  of  Israel,  now  come  down  from  the  cros?,  that  we 
may  see  and  believe  ".  surely  they  reminded  Him  of  the 
great   multitude  who   should   not  see,    and   yet  should 


430  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

believe,  when  He  came  back  through  the  gates  of 
death. 

Thus  the  words  they  spoke  could  not  afflict  Him. 
But  what  horror  to  the  pure  soul  to  behold  these  yawning 
abysses  of  malignity,  these  gulfs  of  pitiless  hate.  The 
affronts  hurled  at  suffering  and  defeat  by  prosperous  and 
exultant  malice  are  especially  Satanic.  Many  diseases 
inflict  more  physical  pain  than  torturers  ever  invented, 
but  they  do  not  excite  the  same  horror,  because  gentle 
ministries  are  there  to  charm  away  the  despair  which 
human  hate  and  execration  conjure  up. 

To  add  to  the  insult  of  His  disgraceful  death,  the 
Romans  had  crucified  two  robbers,  doubtless  from  the 
band  of  Barabbas,  one  upon  each  side  of  Jesus.  We 
know  how  this  outrage  led  to  the  salvation  of  one  of 
them,  and  refreshed  the  heavy  laden  soul  of  Jesus, 
oppressed  by  so  much  guilt  and  vileness,  with  the  visible 
firstfruit  of  His  passion,  giving  Him  to  see  of  the  travail 
of  His  soul,  by  which  He  shall  yet  be  satisfied. 

But  in  their  first  agony  and  despair,  when  all  voices 
were  unanimous  against  the  Blessed  One,  and  they 
too  must  needs  find  some  outlet  for  their  frenzy,  they 
both  reproached  Him.  Thus  the  circle  of  human 
wrong  was  rounded. 

The  traitor,  the  deserters,  the  forsworn  apostle,  the 
perjured  witnesses,  the  hypocritical  pontiff"  professing 
horror  at  blasphemy  while  himself  abjuring  his  national 
hope,  the  accomplices  in  a  sham  trial,  the  murderer 
of  the  Baptist  and  his  men  of  war,  the  abject  ruler 
who  declared  Him  innocent  yet  gave  Him  up  to  die, 
the  servile  throng  who  waited  on  the  priests,  the 
soldiers  of  Herod  and  of  Pilate,  the  pitiless  crowd 
which  clamoured  for  Plis  blocd,  and  they  who  mocked 
Him  in  His  agony, — not  one  of  them  whom  Jesus  did 


Markxv.  33-4I0        THE   DEAl'H  OF  JESUS.  431 

not  compassionate,  whose  cruelty  had  not  power  to 
wring  His  heart.  Disciple  and  foeman,  Roman  and 
Jew,  priest  and  soldier  and  judge,  all  had  lifted  up 
their  voice  against  Him.  And  when  the  comrades  of 
His  passion  joined  the  cry,  the  last  ingredient  of 
human  cruelty  was  infused  into  the  cup  which  James 
and  John  had  once  proposed  to  drink  with  Him. 


THE   DEATH  OF  /ESUS. 

"  And  when  the  sixth  hour  was  come,  there  was  darkness  over  the 
whole  land  until  the  ninth  hour.  And  at  the  ninth  hour  Jesus  cried 
with  a  loud  voice,  Eloi,  Eloi,  lama  sabachthani  ?  which  is,  being  inter- 
preted. My  God,  My  God,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  Me?  And  some  of 
them  that  stood  by,  when  they  heard  it,  said,  Behold,  He  calleth 
Elijah.  And  one  ran,  and  filling  a  sponge  full  of  vinegar,  put  it  on  a 
reed,  and  gave  Him  to  drink,  saying,  Let  be  ;  let  us  see  whether  Elijah 
Cometh  to  take  Him  down.  And  Jesus  uttered  a  loud  voice,  and  gave 
up  the  ghost.  And  the  veil  of  the  temple  was  rent  in  twain  from  the 
top  to  the  bottom.  And  when  the  centurion,  which  stood  by  over  against 
Him,  sav/that  He  so  gave  up  the  ghost,  he  said,  Truly  this  man  was 
the  Son  of  God.  And  there  w-ere  also  women  beholding  from  afar  : 
among  whom  -were:  both  Mary  Magdalene,  and  Mary  the  mother  of 
James  the  less  and  of  Joses,  and  Salome;  who,  when  He  was  in 
Galilee,  followed  Him,  and  ministered  unto  Him  ;  and  many  other 
women  which  came  up  with  Him  unto  Jerusalem."— Mark  xv.  33-41 
(R.V.). 

Three  hours  of  raging  human  passion,  endured  with 
Godlike  patience,  were  succeeded  by  three  hours  of 
darkness,  hushing  mortal  hatred  into  silence,  and  per- 
haps contributing  to  the  penitence  of  the  reviler  at  His 
side.  It  was  a  supernatural  gloom,  since  an  eclipse  of 
the  sun  was  impossible  during  the  full  moon  of  Pass- 
over. Shall  we  say  that,  as  it  shall  be  in  the  last  days, 
nature  sympathized  with  humanity,  and  the  angel  of 
the  sun  hid  his  face  from  his  suffering  Lord  ? 

Or  was  it  tlie  shadow  of  a  still  more  dreadful  eclipse, 


432  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

for  now  the  eternal  Father  veiled  His  countenance  from 
the  Son  in  whom  He  was  well  pleased  ? 

In  some  true  sense  God  forsook  Him.  And  we  have 
to  seek  for  a  meaning  of  this  awful  statement — inade- 
quate no  doubt,  for  all  our  thoughts  must  come  short  of 
such  a  reality,  but  free  from  prevarication  and  evasion. 

It  is  wholly  unsatisfactory  to  regard  the  verse  as 
merely  the  heading  of  a  psalm,  cheerful  for  the  most 
part,  which  Jesus  inaudibly  recited.  Why  was  only 
this  verse  uttered  aloud?  How  false  an  impression 
must  have  been  produced  upon  the  multitude,  upon 
St.  John,  upon  the  penitent  thief,  if  Jesus  were  suffering 
less  than  the  extreme  of  spiritual  anguish.  Nay,  we 
feel  that  never  before  can  the  verse  have  attained  its 
fullest  meaning,  a  meaning  which  no  experience  of 
David  could  more  than  dimly  shadow  forth,  since  we 
ask  in  our  sorrows.  Why  have  we  forsaken  God  ?  but 
Jesus  said,  Why  hast  Thou  forsaken  Me  ? 

And  this  unconsciousness  of  any  reason  for  desertion 
disproves  the  old  notion  that  He  felt  Himself  a  sinner, 
and  "  suffered  infinite  remorse,  as  being  the  chief 
sinner  in  the  universe,  all  tlie  sins  of  mankind  being 
His."  One  who  felt  thus  could  neither  have  addressed 
God  as  "  My  God,"  nor  asked  why  He  was  forsaken. 

Still  less  does  it  allow  us  to  believe  that  the  Father 
perfectly  identified  Jesus  with  sin,  so  as  to  be  "  wroth  " 
with  Him,  and  even  "to  hate  Him  to  the  uttermost." 
Such  notions,  the  offspring  of  theories  carried  to  a  wild 
and  irreverent  extreme,  when  carefully  examined  im- 
pute to  the  Deity  confusion  of  thought,  a  mistaking  of 
the  Holy  One  for  a  sinner,  or  rather  for  the  aggregate 
of  sinners.  But  it  is  very  different  when  we  pass  from 
the  Divine  consciousness  to  the  bearing  of  God  toward 
Christ  our  representati\-e,  to   the  outshining  or  eclipse 


Mark  XV.  33-41  ■]        THE   DEATH  OF  JESUS.  433 

of  His  favour.  That  this  was  overcast  is  manifest  from 
the  fact  that  Jesus  everywhere  else  addresses  Him  as 
My  Father,  here  only  as  My  God.  Even  in  the  garden 
it  was  Abba  Father,  and  the  change  indicates  not  in- 
deed estrangement  of  heart,  but  certainly  remoteness. 
Thus  we  have  the  sense  of  desertion,  combined  with 
the  assurance  which  once  breathed  in  the  words,  O  God, 
Thou  art  my  God. 

Thus  also  it  came  to  pass  that  He  who  never  forfeited 
the  most  intimate  communion  and  sunny  smile  of 
heaven,  should  yet  give  us  an  example  at  the  last 
of  that  utmost  struggle  and  sternest  effort  of  the  soul, 
w^ch  trusts  without  experience,  without  tmiOtion,  in 
the  dark,  because  God  is  God,  not  because  I  am  happy. 

But  they  who  would  empty  the  death  of  Jesus  of  its 
sacrificial  import,  and  leave  only  the  attraction  and  in- 
spiration of  a  sublime  life  and  death,  must  answer  the 
hard  questions,  How  came  God  to  forsake  the  Perfect 
One  ?  Or,  how  came  He  to  charge  God  with  such 
desertion  ?  His  follower,  twice  using  this  very  word, 
could  boast  that  he  was  cast  dov/n  3'et  not  forsaken,  and 
that  at  his  first  trial  all  men  forsook  him,  yet  the  Lord 
stood  by  him  (2  Cor.  iv.  9;  2  Tim.  iv.  16,  17).  Flow 
came  the  disciple  to  be  above  his  Master? 

The  only  explanation  is  in  His  own  word,  that  His 
life  is  a  ransom  in  exchange  for  many  (Mark  x.  45). 
The  chastisement  of  our  peace,  not  the  remorse  of  our 
guiltiness,  was  upon  Him.  No  wonder  that  St.  Mark, 
who  turns  aside  from  his  narrative  for  no  comment, 
no  exposition,  was  yet  careful  to  preserve  this  alone 
among  the  dying  words  of  Christ. 

And  the  Father  heard  Flis  Son.  At  that  cry  the  mys- 
terious darkness  passed  away;  and  the  soul  of  Jesus  was 
relieved  from  its  burden,  so  that  He  became  conscious 

28 


434 


GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


of  physical  suffering ;  and  the  mockery  of  the  multitude 
was  converted  into  awe.  It  seemed  to  them  that  His 
Eloi  might  indeed  bring  Elias,  and  the  great  and  notable 
day,  and  they  were  willing  to  relieve  the  thirst  which 
no  stoical  hardness  forbade  that  gentlest  of  all  sufferers 
to  confess.  Thereupon  the  anguish  that  redeemed  the 
world  was  over  ;  a  loud  voice  told  that  exhaustion  was 
not  complete  ;   and  yet  Jesus  "gave  up  the  ghost."  * 

Through  the  veil,  that  is  to  say  His  flesh,  we  have 
boldness  to  enter  into  the  holy  place  ;  and  now  that 
He  had  opened  the  wa}^,  the  veil  of  the  temple  was 
rent  asunder  by  no  mortal  hand,  but  downvv'ard  from 
the  top.  The  way  into  the  holiest  was  visibly  thrown 
open,  when  sin  was  expiated,  which  had  forfeited  our 
right  of  access. 

And  the  centurion,  seeing  that  His  death  itself  was 
abnormal  and  miraculous,  and  accompanied  with 
miraculous  signs,  said,  Truly  this  was  a  righteous  man. 
But  such  a  confession  could  not  rest  there  :  if  He  was 
this.  He  was  all  He  claimed  to  be ;  and  the  mockery  of 
His  enemies  had  betrayed  the  secret  of  their  hate ;  He 
was  the  Son  of  God. 

"When  the  centurion  saw  "  .  .  .  "  There  were  also 
many  women  beholding."  Who  can  overlook  the  con- 
nection ?  Their  gentle  hearts  were  not  to  be  utterly  over- 
whelmed :  as  the  centurion  saw  and  drew  his  inference, 
so  they  beheld,  and  felt,  however  dimly,  amid  sorrows 
that  benumb  the  miind,  that  still,  even  in  such  wreck 
and  misery,  God  was  not  far  from  Jesus. 

When  the  Lord  said.  It  is  finished,  there  was  not  only 
an  end  of  conscious  anguish,  but  also  of  contempt  and 

*  The  ingenious  and  plausible  attempt  to  show  that  His  death  was 
caused  by  a  physical  rupture  of  the  heart  has  one  fatal  weakness. 
Death  came  too  late  for  this  ;  the  severest  pressure  was  already  relieved. 


Mark  XV.  33-41  •]        THE   DEATH    OF  JESUS.  435 


insult.  His  body  was  not  to  see  corruption,  nor  was  a 
bone  to  be  broken,  nor  should  it  remain  in  hostile  hands. 
Respect  for  Jewish  prejudice  prevented  the  Romans 
from  leaving  it  to  moukkr  on  the  cross,  and  the 
apprc aching-  Sabbath  was  not  one  to  be  polluted.  And 
knowing  this,  Joseph  of  Arimathaea  boldl}'  went  in  to 
Pilate  and  asked  for  the  body  of  Jesus.  It  was  only 
secretly  and  in  fear  that  he  had  been  a  disciple,  but  the 
deadly  crisis  had  developed  what  was  hidden,  he  had 
opposed  the  crime  of  his  nation  in  their  council,  and  in 
the  hour  of  seeming  overthrow  he  chose  the  good  part. 
Boldly  the  timid  one  "  went  in,"  braving  the  scowls  of 
the  priesthood,  defiling  himself  moreover,  and  forfeiting 
his  share  in  the  sacred  feast,  in  hope  to  win  the  further 
defilement  of  contact  with  the  dead. 

Pilate  was  careful  to  verify  so  rapid  a  death  ;  but  when 
he  was  certain  of  the  fact,   "  he  granted  the  corpse  to 
Joseph,"  as  a  worthless  thing.    His  frivolity  is  expressed 
alike  in  the  unusual  verb*  and  substantive  :  he  "  freely- 
bestowed,"  he  "  gave  away  "  not  "the  body"   as  when 
Joseph  spoke  of  it,  but  "  the  corpse,"    the  fallen  thing, 
like  a  prostrated  and  uprooted  tree  that  shall  revive  no 
more.     Wonderful  it  is  to  reflect  that  God  had  entered 
into   eternal  union  with  what  was  thus  given  away  to 
the  only  man  of  rank  who  cared  to  ask  for  it.     Won- 
derful to  think  what  opportunities  of  eternal  gain  men 
are  content  to  lose  ;  what  priceless  treasures  are  given 
away,    or   thrown    away   as   worthless.     Wonderful   to 
imagine  the  feelings  of  Joseph  in  heaven  to-day,  as  he 
gazes  with  gratitude  and  love  upon  the  glorious  Body 
which  once,  for  a  little,  was  consigned  to  his  reverent  care. 
St.  John  tells  us  that  Nicodemus  brought  a  hundred 
pound  weight  of  myrrh  and  aloes,   and  they  together 
^  I.e.  m  the  New  Testament,  where  it  occurs  but  once  besides. 


436  GOSFEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

wrapped  Him  in  these,  in  the  linen  which  had  been 
provided;  and  Joseph  laid  Him  in  his  own  new  tomb, 
undesecrated  by  mortality. 

And  there  Jesus  rested.  His  friends  had  no  such 
hope  as  would  prevent  them  from  closing  the  door  with 
a  great  stone.  His  enemies  set  a  watch,  and  sealed 
the  stone.  The  broad  moon  of  Passover  made  the 
night  as  clear  as  the  day,  and  the  multitude  of 
strangers,  who  thronged  the  city  and  its  suburbs,  ren- 
dered any  attempt  at  robbery  even  more  hopeless  than 
at  another  season. 

What  indeed  could  the  trembling  disciples  of  an 
executed  pretender  do  with  such  an  object  as  a  dead 
body?  What  could  they  hope  from  the  possession  of 
it  ?  But  if  they  did  not  steal  it,  if  the  moral  glories  of 
Christianity  are  not  sprung  from  deliberate  mendacity, 
why  was  the  body  not  produced,  to  abash  the  wild 
dreams  of  their  fanaticism?  It  was  fearfully  easy  to 
identify.  The  scourging,  the  cross,  and  the  spear,  left 
no  shght  evidence  behind,  and  the  broken  bones  of 
the  malefactors  completed  the  absolute  isolation  of  the 
sacred  body  of  the  Lord. 

The  providence  of  God  left  no  precaution  unsupplied 
to  satisfy  honest  and  candid  inquiry.  It  remained  to 
be  seen,  would  He  leave  Christ's  soul  in  Hades,  or 
suffer  His  Holy  One  (such  is  the  epithet  applied  to  the 
body  of  Jesus)  to  see  corruption  ? 

Meantime,  through  what  is  called  three  days  and 
nights — a  space  which  touched,  but  only  touched,  the 
confines  of  a  first  and  third  day,  as  well  as  the  Satur- 
day which  intervened,  Jesus  shared  the  humiliation  of 
common  men,  the  divorce  of  soul  and  body.  He  slept 
as  sleep  the  dead,  but  His  soul  was  where  He  promised 
that  the  penitent  should  come,  refreshed  in  Paradise. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

CHRIST  RISEN. 

"And  when  the  sabbath  was  past,  Mary  Magdalene,  and  Mary  the 
mother  of  James,  and  Salome,  bought  spices,  that  they  might  come  and 
anoint  Him.     And  very  early  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  they  come  to 
the  tomb  when  the  sun  was  risen.     And  they  were  saying  among  them- 
selves, Who  shall  roll  us  away  the  stone  from  the  door  of  the  tomb  . 
and  looking  up,  they  see  that  the  stone  is  rolled  back  :  for  it  was  ex- 
ceedincr  great.     And  entering  into  the  tomb,  they  saw  a  young  man 
sittin-'^on  the  right  side,  arrayed  in  a  white  robe,  and  they  were  amazed. 
And  he  saith  unto  them,  Be  not  amazed  ;  ye  seek  Jesus,  the  Nazarene, 
Which  hath  been  crucified  :  He  is  risen ;  He  is  not  here  :  behold,  the 
place  where  they  laid  Him  !     But  go,  tell  His  disciples  and  Peter,  He 
goeth  before  you  into  Galilee  :  there  shall  ye  see  Him,  as  He  said  unto 
you      And  they  went  out,  and  fled  from  the  tomb ;  for  tremblmg  and 
astonishment  had  come  upon  them  ;  and  they  said  nothing  to  any  one  ; 
for  they  were  afraid.     Now  when  He  was  risen  early  on  the  first  day  o 
the  week    He  appeared  first  to  Mary  Magdalene,  from  whom  He  had 
cast  out  seven  devils.     She  went  and  told  them  that  had  been  wuh  Hun, 
as  they  mourned  and  wept.     And  they,  when  they  heard  that  He  was 
alive   and  had  been  seen  of  her,  disbelieved.     And  after  these  thmgs 
He  was  manifested  in  another  form  unto  two  of  them,  as  they  walked, 
on  their  way  into  the  country.     And  they  went  away  and  told  it  unto 
the  rest  :  neither  believed  they  them.     And  afterward  He  was  mam- 
fested  unto  the  eleven  themselves  as  they  sat  at  meat;  and  He  upbraid- 
ed them   with   their  unbelief  and   hardness   of  heart,    because   they 
believed  not  them  which  had  seen  Him  after  He  was  risen.     And  He 
said  unto  them,  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  the 
whole    creation.     He   that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved 
but  he  that  disbelieveth  shall  be  condemned.     And  these  signs  shall 
follow  them  that  believe  :  in  My  name  shall  they  cast  out  devi  s_;  they 
shall  speak  with  new  tongues ;  they  shall  take  up  serpents,  and  if  they 
drink  any  deadly  thing,  it  shall  in  no  wise  hurt  them  ;  they  shaU  lay 
hands  on  the  sick,  and  they  shall  recover."-MARK  xm,  i-i8  (R.V.). 


438  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


THE  Gospels  were  not  written  for  the  curious  but 
for  the  devout.  They  are  most  silent  therefore 
where  myth  and  legend  would  be  most  garrulous,  and 
it  is  instructive  to  seek,  in  the  story  of  Jesus,  for 
anything  similar  to  the  account  of  the_  Buddha's 
enlightenment  under  the  Bo  tree.  We  read  nothing 
of  the  interval  in  Hades  ;  nothing  of  the  entry  of  His 
crowned  and  immortal  body  into  the  presence  chamber 
of  God  ;  nothing  of  the  resurrection.  Did  He  awake 
alone  ?  Was  He  waited  upon  by  the  hierarchy  of 
heaven,  who  robed  Him  in  raiment  unknown  to  men  ? 
We  are  only  told  what  concerns  mankind,  the  sufficient 
manifestation  of  Jesus  to  His  disciples. 

And  to  harmonise  the  accounts  a  certain  effort  is 
necessary,  because  the}'  tell  of  interviews  with  men  and 
women  who  had  to  pass  through  all  the  vicissitudes 
of  despair,  suspense,  rapturous  incredulity,*  and  faith. 
Each  of  them  contributes  a  portion  of  the  tale. 

From  St.  John  we  learn  that  Mar}'  Magdalene  came 
early  to  the  sepulchre,  from  St.  Matthew  that  others 
were  with  her,  from  St.  Mark  that  these  women,  dis- 
satisfied with  the  unskilful  ministrations  of  men  (and 
men  whose  rank  knew  nothing  of  such  functions),  had 
brought  sweet  spices  to  anoint  Him  Who  was  about  to 
claim  their  adoration;  St.  John  tells  how  Mary,  seeing 
the  empty  sepulchre,  ran  to  tell  Peter  and  John  of  its 
desecration  ;  the  others,  that  in  her  absence  an  angel 
told  the  glad  tidings  to  the  women ;  St.  Mark,  that 
Mary  was  the  first  to  whom  Jesus  Himself  appeared. 
And  thenceforth  the  narrative  more  easily  falls  into  its 
place. 

*  Can  anything  surpass  that  masterstroke  of  insiglit  and  descriptive 
power,  "they  still  disbelieved  for  joy  "  (Lul;e  xxiv.  41). 


Maikxvi.  i-i8.]  CHRIST  RISEN".  439 

This  confusion,  however  perplexing  to  thoughtless 
readers,  is  inevitable  in  the  independent  histories  of 
such  events,  derived  from  the  various  parties  who  de- 
lighted to  remember,  each  what  had  befallen  himself. 

But  even  a  genuine  contradiction  would  avail  nothing 
to  refute  the  substantial  fact.  When  the  generals  of 
Henry  the  Fourth  strove  to  tell  him  what  passed  after 
he  was  wounded  at  Aumale,  no  two  of  them  agreed  in 
the  course  of  events  which  gave  them  victory.  Two 
armies  beheld  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  but  who  can  tell 
when  it  began  ?  At  ten  o'clock,  said  the  Duke  of 
Wellington.  At  half  past  eleven,  said  General  Alava, 
who  rode  beside  him.  At  twelve  according  to  Napoleon 
and  Drouet ;  and  at  one  according  to  Ney. 

People  who  doubt  the  reality  of  the  resurrection, 
because  the  harmony  of  the  narratives  is  underneath 
the  surface,  do  not  deny  these  facts.  They  are  part 
of  history.  Yet  it  is  certain  that  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus  colours  the  history  of  the  world  more  powerfully 
to-day,  than  the  events  which  are  so  much  more  recent. 

If  Christ  were  not  risen,  how  came  these  despairing 
men  and  women  by  their  new  hope,  their  energy,  their 
success  among  the  very  men  vvho  slew  Him  ?  If  Christ 
be  not  risen,  how  has  the  morality  of  mankind  been 
raised  ?  Was  it  ever  known  that  a  falsehood  exercised 
for  ages  a  quickening  and  purifying  power  which  no 
truth  can  rival  ? 

From  the  ninth  verse  to  the  end  of  St.  Mark's  account 
it  is  curiously  difficult  to  decide  on  the  true  reading. 
And  it  must  be  said  that  the  note  in  the  Revised  Version, 
however  accurate,  does  not  succeed  in  giving  any  notion 
of  the  strength  of  the  case  in  favour  of  the  remainder 
of  the  Gospel.  It  tells  us  that  the  two  oldest  manu- 
scripts omit  them,  but  we  do  not  read  that  in  one  of 


440  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

these  a  space  is  left  for  the  insertion  of  something, 
known  by  the  scribe  to  be  wanting  there.  Nor  does  it 
mention  the  twelve  manuscripts  of  almost  equal  anti- 
quity in  which  they  are  contained,  nor  the  early  date 
at  which  they  were  quoted. 

The  evidence  appears  to  lean  towards  the  belief 
that  they  were  added  in  a  later  edition,  or  else  torn  off 
in  an  early  copy  from  which  some  transcribers  worked. 
But  unbelief  cannot  gain  anything  by  converting  them 
into  a  separate  testimony,  of  the  very  earliest  antiquity, 
to  events  related  in  each  of  the  other  Gospels. 

And  the  uncertainty  itself  will  be  wholesome  if  it 
reminds  us  that  saving  faith  is  not  to  be  reposed  in 
niceties  of  criticism,  but  in  a  living  Christ,  the  power 
and  wisdom  of  God.  Jesus  blamed  men  for  thinking 
that  they  had  eternal  life  in  their  inspired  Scriptures, 
and  so  refusing  to  come  for  life  to  Him,  of  Whom  those 
Scriptures  testified.  Has  sober  criticism  ever  shaken 
for  one  hour  that  sacred  function  of  Holy  Writ  ? 

What  then  is  especially  showai  us  in  the  closing 
words  of  St.  Mark  ? 

Readiness  to  requite  even  a  spark  of  grace,  and  to 
bless  with  the  first  tidings  of  a  risen  Redeemer  the 
love  which  sought  only  to  embalm  His  corpse.  Tender 
care  for  the  fallen  and  disheartened,  in  the  message 
sent  especially  to  Peter.  Immeasurable  condescension, 
such  as  rested  formerly,  a  Babe,  in  a  peasant  woman's 
arms,  and  announced  its  Advent  to  shepherds,  now  ap- 
pearing first  of  all  to  a  woman  "  out  of  whom  He  had 
cast  seven  devils." 

A  state  of  mind  among  the  disciples,  far  indeed  from 
that  rapt  and  hysterical  enthusiasm  which  men  have 
fancied,  ready  to  be  whirled  away  in  a  vortex  of  reli- 
gious propagandism  (and  to  whirl  the  whole  world  after 


Markxvl,  i-iS.]  CHRIST  RISEN.  44^ 


it),  upon  the  impulse  of  dreams,  hallucinations,  voices 
mistaken  on  a  misty  shore,  longings  which  begot  con- 
victions. Jesus  Himself,  and  no  second,  no  messenger 
from  Jesus,  inspired  the  zeal  which  kindled  mankind. 
The  disciples,  mourning  and  weeping,  found  the  glad 
tidings  incredible,  while  Mary  who  had  seen  Him, 
believed.  When  two,  as  they  walked,  beheld  Him 
in  another  shape,  the  rest  remained  incredulous, 
announcing  indeed  that  He  had  actually  risen  and 
appeared  unto  Peter,  yet  so  far  from  a  true  conviction 
that  when  He  actually  came  to  them,  they  supposed 
that  they  beheld  a  spirit  (Luke  xxiv.  34,  37).  Yet  He 
looked  in  the  face  those  pale  discouraged  Galileans, 
and  bade  them  go  into  all  the  world,  bearing  to  the 
whole  creation  the  issues  of  eternal  life  and  death. 
And  they  went  forth,  and  the  power  and  intellect  of 
the  world  are  won.  Whatever  unbelievers  think  about 
individual  souls,  it  is  plain  that  the  words  of  the 
Nazarene  have  proved  true  for  communities  and  nations, 
He  that  believeth  and  is  baptised  has  been  saved.  He 
that  believeth  not  has  been  condemned.  The  nation 
and  kingdom  that  has  not  served  Christ  has  perished. 

Nor  does  any  one  pretend  that  the  agents  in  this 
marvellous  movement  were  insincere.  If  all  this  was 
a  dream,  it  was  a  strange  one  surel}^,  and  demands  to 
be  explained.  If  it  was  otherwise,  no  doubt  the  finger 
of  God  has  come  unto  us. 


442  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 


THE    ASCENSION. 

"  So  then  the  Lord  Jesus,  after  He  had  spoken  unto  them,  was 
received  up  into  heaven,  and  sat  down  at  the  right  hand  of  God.  And 
they  went  forth,  and  preached  everywhere,  tlie  Lord  working  with 
them,  and  confirming  the  word  by  the  signs  that  followed.  Amen." — 
Mark  xvi.  19-20  (R.V.) 

We  have  reached  the  close  of  the  great  Gospel  of  the 
energies  of  Jesus,  His  toils,  His  manner,  His  searching 
gaze,  His  noble  indignation,  His  love  of  children,  the 
consuming  zeal  by  virtue  of  which  He  was  not  more 
truly  the  Lamb  of  God  than  the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of 
Judah.  St.  Mark  has  just  recorded  how  He  bade  His 
followers  carry  on  His  work,  defying  the  serpents  of 
the  world,  and  renewing  the  plague-stricken  race  of 
Adam.  In  what  strength  did  they  fulfil  this  commis- 
sion ?  How  did  the}'  fare  without  the  Master  ?  And 
what  is  St.  Mark's  view  of  the  Ascension  ? 

Here,  as  all  through  the  Gospel,  minor  points  are 
neglected.  Details  are  only  valued  when  they  carry 
some  aid  for  the  special  design  of  the  Evangelist,  who 
presses  to  the  core  of  his  subject  at  once  and  boldly. 
As  he  omitted  the  bribes  with  which  Satan  tempted 
Jesus,  and  cared  not  for  the  testimony  of  the  Baptist 
when  the  voice  of  God  was  about  to  peal  from  heaven 
over  the  Jordan,  as  on  the  holy  mount  he  told  not 
the  subject  of  which  Moses  and  Elijah  spoke,  but  how 
Jesus  Himself  predicted  His  death  to  His  disciples,  so 
now  He  is  silent  about  the  mountain  slope,  the  final 
benediction,  the  cloud  which  withdrew  Him  from  their 
sight  and  the  angels  who  sent  back  the  dazed  apostles 
to  their  homes  and  their  duties.  It  is  not  caprice  nor 
haste  that  omits  so  much  interesting  information.  Llis 
mind  is  fixed  on  a  few  central  thoughts  ;  what  concerns 


Markxvi.  19,  20.]  THE   ASCENSION.  443 

him  is  to  link  the  might}'  story  of  the  hfe  and  death  of 
Jesus  with  these  great  facts,  that  He  was  received  up 
into  Heaven,  that  He  tliere  sat  down  upon  the  right 
hand  of  God,  and  that  His  disciples  were  never  for- 
saken of  Him  at  all,  but  proved,  by  the  miraculous 
spread  of  the  early  Church,  that  His  povv'er  was  among 
them  still.  St.  Mark  does  not  record  the  promise,  but 
he  asserts  the  fact  that  Christ  was  with  them  all  the 
days.  There  is  indeed  a  connection  between  his  two 
closing  verses,  subtle  and  hard  to  render  into  English, 
and  yet  real,  which  suggests  the  notion  of  balance,  of 
relation  between  the  two  movements,  the  ascent  of 
Jesus,  and  the  evangelisation  of  the  world,  such  as 
exists,  for  example,  between  detachments  of  an  array 
co-operating  for  a  common  end,  so  that  our  Lord,  for 
His  part,  ascended,  while  the  disciples,  for  their  part, 
went  forth  and  found  Him  with  them  still. 

But  the  link  is  plainer  which  binds  the  Ascension  to 
His  previous  story  of  suffering  and  conflict.  It  was 
"  then,"  and  "  after  He  had  spoken  unto  them,"  that 
"the  Lord  Jesus  was  received  up."  In  truth  His 
ascension  was  but  the  carrying  forv\"ard  to  completion 
of  His  resurrection,  which  was  not  a  return  to  the  poor 
conditions  of  our  mortal  life,  but  an  entrance  into  glory, 
only  arrested  in  its  progress  until  He  should  have  quite 
convinced  His  followers  that  "  it  is  I  indeed,"  and  made 
them  understand  that  "  thus  it  is  written  that  the  Christ 
should  suffer,  and  rise  again  from  the  dead  the  third 
day,"  and  filled  them  with  holy  shame  for  their  unbelief, 
and  with  courage  for  their  future  course,  so  strange,  so 
weary,  so  sublime. 

There  is  something  remarkable  in  the  words,  "  He 
was  received  up  into  heaven."  Vv^e  habitually  speak 
of   Him   as  ascending,    but   Scripture  more  frequently 


444  GOSPEL    OF  ST.   MARA". 

declares  that  He  was  the  subject  of  the  action  of 
another,  and  was  taken  up.  St.  Luke  tells  us  that, 
•'  while  they  worshipped,  He  was  carried  up  into 
heaven,"  and  again  "  He  was  received  up.  .  .  .  He 
was  taken  up"  (Luke  xxiv.  51  ;  Acts  i.  2,  9).  Ph3'sical 
interference  is  not  implied  :  no  angels  bore  Him  aloft; 
and  the  narratives  make  it  clear  that  His  glorious  Body, 
obedient  to  its  new  mysterious  nature,  arose  unaided. 
But  the  decision  to  depart,  and  the  choice  of  a  time, 
came  not  from  Him  :  He  did  not  go,  but  was  taken. 
Never  hitherto  had  He  glorified  Himself.  He  had 
taught  His  disciples  to  be  contented  in  the  lowest  room 
until  the  Master  of  the  house  should  bid  them  come  up 
higher.  And  so,  when  His  own  supreme  victory  is 
won,  and  heaven  held  its  breath  expectant  and  aston- 
ished, the  conquering  Lord  was  content  to  walk  with 
peasants  by  the  Lake  of  Galilee  and  on  the  slopes  of 
Olivet  until  the  appointed  time.  What  a  rebuke  to  us 
who  chafe  and  fret  if  the  recognition  of  our  petty  merits 
be  postponed. 

"  He  was  received  up  into  heaven  !  "  What  sublime 
m.ysteries  are  covered  by  that  simple  phrase.  It  was 
He  who  taught  us  to  make,  even  of  the  mammon  of 
unrighteousness,  friends  who  shall  welcome  us,  when 
mammon  fails  and  all  things  mortal  have  deserted  us, 
into  everlasting  habitations.  With  what  difierent  greet- 
ings, then,  do  men  enter  the  City  of  God.  Some  con- 
verts of  the  death  bed  perhaps  there  are,  who  scarcely 
make  their  way  to  heaven,  alone,  unbailed  b}''  one 
whom  they  saved  or  comforted,  and  like  a  vessel  which 
struggles  into  port,  with  rent  cordage  and  tattered  sails, 
only  not  a  wreck.  Others,  who  aided  some  few,  spar- 
ing a  little  of  their  means  and  energies,  are  greeted  and 
blessed  by  a  scanty  group.      But  even  our  cliicfLains  and 


Mark  xvi.  19,  20.]  THE   ASCENSION.  44.5 

leaders,  the  martyrs,  sages  and  philanthropists  whose 
names  brighten  the  annals  of  the  Church,  what  is  their 
influence,  and  how  fev/  have  they  reached,  compared 
with  that  great  multitude  whom  none  can  number,  ot 
all  nations  and  tribes  and  peoples  and  tongues,  who 
cry  with  a  loud  voice,  Salvat'on  unto  our  God  who 
sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb.  Through 
Him  it  pleased  the  Father  to  reconcile  all  things  unto 
Himself,  through  Hinn,  whether  things  upon  the  earth 
or  things  in  the  heavens.  And  surel}'  the  supreme 
hour  in  the  history  of  the  universe  was  v/hen,  in  flesh, 
the  sore  stricken  but  now  the  aii-conc|uering  Christ  re- 
entered His  native  heaven. 

And  He  sat  down  at  the  right  hand  of  God.  The 
expression  is,  beyond  all  controversy,  borrowed  from 
that  great  Psalm  Vv'hich  begins  by  saying,  "The  Lord 
said  unto  my  Lord,  Sit  thou  at  My  right  hand,"  and 
which  presently  makes  the  announcement  never 
revealed  until  tlien,  "Thou  art  a  Priest  forever  after 
the  order  of  Melchizedec"  (Ps.  ex.  i,  4).  It  is  there- 
fore an  anticipation  of  the  argument  for  the  ro}'al 
Priesthood  of  Jesus  which  is  developed  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrevv's.  Now  priesthood  is  a  human  function: 
ever}^  liigh  priest  is  chosen  from  among  men.  And 
the  Ascension  proclaims  to  us,  not  the  Divinit}^  of  the 
Eternal  Word  but  the  glorification  of  "  the  Lord 
Jesus  ;  "  not  the  omnipotence  of  God  the  Son,  but  that 
all  power  is  committed  unto  Him  Who  is  not  ashamed 
to  call  us  brethren,  that  His  human  hands  wield  the 
sceptre  as  once  they  held  tlie  reed,  and  the  brows  then 
insulted  and  torn  with  thorns  are  now  crowned  with 
many  crowns.  In  the  overthrow  of  Satan  He  won 
all,  and  infinitely  more  than  all,  of  that  vast  bri!  e 
which    Satan    once   offered  for    His  homage,   and    the 


44S  GOSPEL    OF  ST.    MARK. 

angels  for  ever  \vorship  Him  v.ho  would  not  for  a 
momei^t  bend   His  knee  to  evil. 

Now  since  He  conquered  not  for  Himself  but  as 
Captain  of  our  Salvation,  th.e  Ascension  also  proclaims 
the  issue  of  all  the  holy  suffering,  all  the  baffled  efforts, 
all  the  cross-bearing  of  all  who  follovv^  Christ. 

His  High  Priesthood  is  with  authorit^^.  "  Every 
high  priest  standeth,"  but  He  has  for  ever  sat  down 
on  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  the  majesty  in  the 
heavens,  a  Priest  sitting  upon  Plis  throne  (Heb.  viii.  i  ; 
Zech.  vi.  13).  And  tiierefore  it  is  His  office,  Who 
pleads  for  us  and  represents  us,  Himself  to  govern 
our  destinies.  No  wonder  that  Hlis  early  followers, 
with  minds  which  He  had  opened  to  understand  the 
Scriptures,  were  mighty  to  cast  down  strongholds. 
Against  tribulation  and  anguish  and  persecution  and 
famine  and  nakedness  and  peril  and  sword  they  were 
more  than  conquerors  through  Him,  For  He  woi'ked 
with  them  and  confirmed  His  Vv^ord  with  signs.  And 
we  have  seen  that  He  works  with  His  people  still,  and 
still  confirms  His  gospel,  only  withdrawing  signs  of 
one  order  as  those  of  another  kind  are  multiplied. 
Wherever  they  wage  a  faithful  battle.  He  gives  them 
victory.  Whenever  they  cry  to  Him  in  anguish,  the 
form  of  the  Son  of  God  is  wdth  them  in  the  furnace, 
and  the  smell  of  fire  does  not  pass  upon  them.  Where 
they  come,  the  desert  blossoms  as  a  rose ;  and  where 
they  are  received,  the  serpents  of  life  no  krger  sting, 
its  fevers  grov;  cool,  arid  the  cemcns  whici;  rend  it  are 
cast  out. 


'H 


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Theological  Seminar   Librari^^^ 


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